Innkeepers upset with DOT’s Camden project

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CAMDEN – Leftover dirt from the two-year rebuilding of U.S. Route 1 is being swept up as the project nears completion this month. But resentments of some inn owners won’t be as easily removed.

The owners and managers of several inns along the stretch of Route 1 north of downtown Camden – known locally as High Street – say contractors left the inns cut off from the road at times and were not communicative about their plans. They also note the project’s delayed completion kept tourists from stopping during peak season.

Carol Morris of Garrand Marketing Communications, the public relations firm used by the Maine Department of Transportation, said Friday rainy weather delayed the project.

“I think what we’re seeing now is their desperate attempt to get it done as soon as possible,” she said.

A local Chamber of Commerce survey of members showed a majority favored stopping work at the end of June and finishing in the fall, but DOT persevered.

The work had been planned for a decade, and a town committee negotiated with DOT to gain concessions about some amenities, such as narrow travel lanes, retaining old trees, granite curbing and a sidewalk that extends from downtown north to Camden Hills State Park.

The $5.3 million road project coincided with upgrades to sewer and water lines, and some utility poles were replaced as part of the work.

Despite years of discussion with town committees, the project generated local opposition. Some protested the cutting of trees, and a group of innkeepers urged DOT to locate the utility lines under the roadway in the historic district just north of the Camden Public Library. That effort failed.

Kim Hraba, who manages the Whitehall Inn, said work left the inn’s walkway cut off from the sidewalk and road.

On Thursday, she said a guest stopping to make a reservation was unable to access the inn’s front door, and instead had to walk through a side parking area.

“We are not happy about it because it does make it very difficult for our guests to get in,” Hraba said. “That doesn’t help with business.”

Though she allowed that when the project is complete “it’s going to look beautiful,” the work has “put a damper on business.”

Joanne Reuillard who manages the Norumbega Inn said a meeting was scheduled late last month for property owners to air concerns with DOT, but insufficient notice was given and she was unable to attend.

“That’s a primary example of how things went on this project,” she said.

Had she been able to attend, Reuillard would have told DOT representatives that contractors “could’ve been more considerate” to businesses.

After talking with contractors about coming work on the inn’s two driveways, Reuillard was assured the work would be done separately. But one morning, she arrived to find both driveways torn up, blocking access to the inn.

“It’s meant a loss of business, a loss of income,” she said.

Joanne Ball, who with her husband owns the A Little Dream Inn, said the inn’s driveway was out of commission for three days. And at one point, the place where the road met the driveway was so steep that a guest’s car could not leave without bottoming out, she said.

“We did have some severe impacts, and a number of financial ramifications,” Ball said.

Bill Butler, owner of Castleview by the Sea, echoed the views of the other innkeepers.

“The driveway was all torn up going into the Fourth of July weekend,” he said, and like the others, he struggled to get advance notice about work that affected his property.

Butler believes work where the inns are located should have been completed first.

“The whole project was a fiasco,” he said, likening it to a battle zone.

Morris said contractors were trying to cooperate with business owners, using hand equipment in recent days instead of large machines to limit the need to stop traffic.

“They’re working under very, very difficult conditions,” she said.

Innkeepers were also disappointed to see asphalt paving used for the sidewalks in the historic district, especially since DOT used bricklike pavers in a project just north in Lincolnville Beach.

“It could’ve been a showpiece,” Butler said.

Final driveway paving is expected to be completed in the next few days, and final plantings will be done in the fall.