VERONA ISLAND – Officials at the Maine Department of Transportation are reassessing lighting issues on the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge in response to concerns voiced since the bridge opened last month.

“I’ve been hearing a variety of different concerns [from constituents],” state Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, said on Wednesday. “The general concern seems to be that there needs to be some kind of traffic lighting on the bridge.”

Rosen said he has forwarded those concerns to the DOT and that officials are looking at modifications to the decorative lighting already installed on the bridge, and possibly installing lighting on the approach to the bridge on the Verona Island side.

The bridge design included decorative “necklace” lighting along the deck of the bridge that also provided some light on the road, according to Carol Morris, who has been the DOT spokeswoman for the bridge project. Those lights were installed and then removed “for two reasons,” she said Wednesday.

“They were vulnerable to snowplows and vandalism, and, of more concern, the way they were designed, they could create a situation where the light would shine in motorists’ eyes,” she said.

The DOT plans to remount the same lights within the next few weeks in a manner that will protect them from damage. Once the lights are installed, crews will experiment with different lighting schemes to see if they can provide enough light on the bridge deck to satisfy motorists.

“We plan to do some experimentation in reaction to what we’re hearing from people,” Morris said.

If the department determines that a lighting configuration improves the situation for motorists, the lights would operate year-round, she said.

In addition, the department is looking at possibly adding lighting at the Verona Island approach to the bridge. The Prospect approach to the bridge is very well-lighted, Morris said. The DOT included lighting in that area, both at the redesigned intersection with Route 174 and along the ledge cut on a reconfigured Route 1 approach.

There is no lighting on the Verona Island side of the bridge.

Some residents also are disgruntled that the decorative lighting that will illuminate the cable stays will be on only during the summer months. Sen. Rosen has discussed with DOT officials the possibility of extending that time.

“The original plan was to only light the bridge for 90 days during the summer. There will be some discussion whether we can improve on that,” he said.

Generally, the cost of lighting a bridge is borne by the communities the bridge connects. During the bridge planning, there was little interest among officials in Prospect or Verona Island in picking up those costs. Given that they are small towns and the bridge is a regional bridge, the department agreed to provide funds for the decorative lighting during the summer months.

The estimated cost for lighting the bridge with the designed decorative lighting is about $2,250. A rough estimate for the lighting for 365 days is about $9,000.

A lot of the discussion about lighting has come up just in the two weeks since the bridge opened, Morris said, adding that the lighting design was based on public comments indicating that people didn’t want a lot of lighting on the bridge. Views may change once the decorative lighting is turned on, she said.

“If it is as beautiful as people say it will be, there may be a great deal of consensus to have it lighted more,” she said.