DIXMONT – You can’t get there from here. Residents along Route 7 in Dixmont and into Jackson know that for sure.

Severely cracked and broken pavement along the busy road has left many folks concerned for their safety.

The route is so bad in spots that an anonymous resident spray-painted an editorial comment on one section a couple of weeks ago.

The words “FIX ME,” written twice across the road, take up both lanes traveling north and the passing lane when driving south along Route 7.

A Maine Department of Transportation official contacted Wednesday said he was unaware of problems on the road, which winds from East Newport through Waldo County into Belfast.

“The road has such heavy traffic,” Irene Smith, 68, said Wednesday afternoon from her porch. “I was sitting here this morning thinking there are some nice-looking cars that drive by. But they have to drive 15 miles per hour to save their vehicle.”

Smith and her husband, Charlie, live near the intersection of Routes 7 and 9, and although the strip in front of their residence is bad, they said it gets worse the farther east one travels.

“[Officials] are aware, but their hands are tied,” said Irene Smith, who believes a lack of funding may be the reason for the slow progress. “I think they are doing all they can. We just wish it could be done sooner.”

About a month ago, state survey crews said resurfacing wouldn’t be done this year, but the installation of a large culvert would be done soon, said Charlie Smith, 69.

But that, too, has yet to happen.

The Smiths’ neighbor, Clorita Howell, 67, said the road is lined with hubcaps from cars that make the trek over the bumpy surface.

The Smiths recently traded in a vehicle because of front-end damage to the car, they said.

But it gets worse.

“We had someone go by with a trailer, and the road is so rough that the trailer became disconnected,” Charlie Smith recalled as he pointed across the road to where the incident took place a couple of months ago. “It knocked over the reduced-speed sign on the side of the road.”

The trailer was carrying a big load of appliances, including a washing machine and dryer. Howell said it took the trailer owner two trips to get the area cleaned up.

The road’s worst condition is between the intersection of Route 9 and the Penobscot-Waldo county line.

That’s where the spraypainted comments are located.

An official with the Maine Department of Transportation, responsible for maintenance of Route 7, said Wednesday that he was unaware of the poor road conditions.

“That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” Randy Gray, Region 4 superintendent, said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I’ll have to check that out in the morning.”

When he does, Gray will see faded white lines on either side of the road, making it hard to differentiate between the dirt and pavement. He also will see chunks of road missing along the edges.

Although the road has been resurfaced sometime within the past seven years and patched regularly, the Smiths and Howell agree that just won’t do this time around.

“They can’t just put down new tar,” Charlie Smith said. “It’s too broken up.”

“They have to remove everything and build up,” Irene Smith added.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a convenient alternate path to get from one end of Route 7 to the other.

“It’s a major route for tractor-trailers,” Irene Smith said. “Everyone commutes this way.”

Dixmont First Selectman John Olsen was unavailable for comment Wednesday evening.

BDN reporter Emily Burnham contributed to this report.