DOT eyes need for Route 9 restroom Airline Snack Bar offers use of site

TOWNSHIP 22 – At the urging of Sen. Kevin Raye, R-Perry, the Department of Transportation will work to establish public restrooms on Route 9 between Calais and Brewer.

Last month, Raye presented a legislative resolve that called on DOT to establish the restrooms.

He argued that Washington County residents who must travel to Bangor for such essentials as medical treatments had few options for restroom stops along the road, especially at night when businesses close.

Raye suggested the restrooms be built at the DOT rest area on Township 30, about halfway between Calais and Brewer. DOT once had primitive toilet facilities at the site, but they were removed.

But DOT opposed the move, arguing restrooms would cost $625,000 to build, and $100,000 annually to maintain.

The department set the construction cost from recently built restrooms at the Penobscot Narrows Bridge in Prospect. Much of the maintenance cost was tied to DOT’s belief that if staff did not regularly check the facility, it was at risk of being vandalized.

Some members of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee and supporters of Raye’s resolve scoffed at the cost estimates, and suggested DOT work to find a less expensive way to provide the amenities.

In an April 11 letter to Raye, Transportation Commissioner David Cole reported that the owners of the Airline Snack Bar on Route 9 in Township 22 approached DOT about participating with the state for a possible solution.

Two options are under consideration, Cole wrote:

. The state leasing land from the restaurant for construction of a primitive privy which would be maintained by the restaurant.

. Assisting the restaurant with upgrades to its septic system so its restroom could handle additional use, available to the public around the clock through an outside entrance.

Those options are contingent on negotiations and available funding, Cole noted.

“If these negotiations for some reason could not be met, we will, as a last resort, re-install a pit privy [at Township 30],” the commissioner wrote.

Raye was pleased with Cole’s efforts.

“I really appreciate the fact that the commissioner is willing to think outside the box on this,” he said Monday.

Raye said maintenance and security would be easier at the restaurant property because there is a house nearby which would likely discourage vandalism.

The goal, both Raye and Cole indicated, is to provide restrooms that can be used 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

In addition to making the long trek from eastern Washington County to Bangor and back again less taxing for area residents, restrooms are important to the tourism industry, Raye said.

He was hopeful the facilities could be established soon, perhaps in time for the influx of tourists this summer.

Raye added that he wants to see DOT re-examine its direction in recent years of closing many of the restrooms it once operated on highways, noting the availability of clean restrooms is often cited as important to tourists.