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WELLINGTON – Residents in this tiny town in the southwestern corner of Piscataquis County say they have waited more than three decades for the Department of Transportation to make good on its promise to pave East Road, a mostly gravel route that connects the town to the rest of the county.
Having watched and waited patiently while other towns up and down the state have had their roads paved and repaved over those years, residents say it’s time some of their tax dollars are returned for the safety of the community.
“It is time. It’s long overdue, now it’s our turn,” First Selectman Marc Pomerleau said during a recent interview. “If one-tenth of their [DOT’s] promises had been fulfilled, the road would have been completely rebuilt and tarred several years ago.”
The adage “You can’t get there from here” proves true for Wellington residents in the spring when the frost leaves the ground and the dirt beneath the gravel thickens into mud stew. In addition, the lack of ditching along much of the road causes rain to wash out the gravel and leave behind deep ruts on the state-aid road. Summer and fall bring dust so thick that one longtime resident, who has emphysema, says he must move.
The 7-mile East Road is this town’s main thoroughfare to Parkman and the rest of Piscataquis County. When it’s impassable, residents are relegated to a 10- to 12-mile detour through Harmony and Cambridge in Somerset County to get to Parkman in Piscataquis County.
Those extra minutes could mean the difference in response time for fires and ambulance calls, according to Vaughn Bussell, the road commissioner and fire chief. Depending on the road’s condition, the Fire Department may have to take the detour to reach a fire less than a mile away from the fire station, he said.
“To us, it’s the main artery to the east coming into town, and when you shut that down everything has to go south,” Pomerleau said. “It’s become a safety hazard.”
It’s so bad that SAD 4 sends a school bus from the Parkman side to pick up children in that location and sends another bus from the Cambridge end to collect children in the village area, according to town officials. Two years ago, the road was so rough even the DOT couldn’t haul in gravel to fill the potholes, they said.
Responses from the DOT to calls for help in maintaining the road through the rough periods don’t necessarily come quickly and sometimes never come at all, according to Bussell.
Pomerleau agreed, saying, “It’s just like talking to a wife who’s mad at you.”
Norman Haggan, manager of the DOT’s western region, under which Wellington falls, said every attempt has been made to keep the road passable over the years.
“We try to maintain it for reasonable travel, and if we’re aware of a problem we try to correct it,” Haggan said recently.
East Road is one of three gravel state-aid minor collector roads in Haggan’s jurisdiction. Fayette and Rangeley Plantation also have gravel roads, he said.
Minor collector roads are considered the lowest level of state roads because traffic volumes are relatively low, according to Haggan, who is stationed in Dixfield. About 100 vehicles a day travel over East Road, he said. Under this classification, the state handles basic summer maintenance and the town is responsible for winter maintenance.
The state has a Rural Road Initiative program that addresses capital improvement needs of the minor collector roads, Haggan said. To participate, the town would make a request to the DOT, and, if it were approved, the town would contribute one-third of the cost and the state would fund the remainder, he said. Towns are allowed one $600,000 project a year but can apply the next year for funds to finish a project, according to Haggan.
Pomerleau said the gravel road should have been paved years ago when the state covered most of the cost. A town with a population of 261 has no means to cover one-third of the cost to have the road rebuilt and paved, he said. One official told Pomerleau the project would cost at least $6 million.
“That would bankrupt us if we had to pay that much,” Pomerleau said.
He suggested the state might want to contract with paper companies, which develop better logging roads than Wellington now has, at a fraction of the cost.
Haggan said the DOT has graded the road, has done paving in spots and has completed minor ditching over the years in an attempt to keep the road passable.
Some residents, including Jim Northup, 65, whose family is one of about 40 living on the road, say that work falls short.
“Ever since I bought this place 37 years ago they’ve [DOT] been saying they’re going to pave the road,” Northup said. “Most of the time the road isn’t fit for horse or tiptrot,” an archaic word for a horse-drawn tip cart or dump cart.
Afflicted with emphysema, Northup said he had to solicit the help of a local legislator to get the DOT to put down some calcium a few years ago to reduce the dust.
“I couldn’t even walk from my house to the garage – somebody would go by and I couldn’t breathe, it would choke me right up,” Northup said.
He said he has grown so frustrated that he now has his house on the market.
“We don’t have the service on this road and it doesn’t do much good to complain about it because we’ve done nothing but complain,” Northup said. “The only time we have a decent road is when the snow covers the road and the potholes and dust are covered up.”
Resident Mike Regan, who lives closer to Parkman, said he avoids the road when possible. “When I do go to the town office I go the way around from Cambridge and Harmony. The road is that horrible,” he said.
Pomerleau said the condition of the road is a perpetual topic at town meeting and it was no different this year. He said he plans to take the message that the town needs help with the road to Gov. John Baldacci even if he has to deliver a letter himself.
“We’re not asking for a superhighway, we’re just asking for some of our tax dollars to come back,” Pomerleau said.
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