THOMASTON (WGME) – A Midcoast town is now in talks with an engineering firm to build a new bypass for commercial truck traffic to get big rigs off Route 1.
The Thomaston Select Board held a closed-doors meeting this week with Dirigo Engineering about a potential East-West bypass to Route 1 on the north side of town.
Neighbors say the noise and traffic on Route 1 in Thomaston can be brutal.
"You just know from about 2:30 in the afternoon until about 5:30, it’s going to be congested," Thomaston Planning Board Chair Joanne Richards said.
Last year, the town made finding a solution to commercial truck traffic on Main Street one of its highest priorities.
It's why town leaders are now looking at building a Route 1 bypass.
Right now, two possible routes are being looked at. Both appear to cut through at least two neighborhoods.
"It would swing through this backyard, which is this close to my house," Richards said.
Richards is chair of the town planning board.
"I’m not happy with either one of these routes, because either one of them is going to disturb this whole area," Richards said.
She also says a bypass would be bad for business.
"Anybody that’s coming through that doesn’t want to sit through traffic, they’re going to go by the bypass, which means they’re not going to stop in the shops,” Richards said.
Several downtown business owners had no idea the town was considering a bypass.
Salon owner Lisa Hersom is all for it.
"For probably more of the big trucks and the buses and that type of thing, absolutely," Hersom said.
Now, commercial truck drivers can already bypass Thomaston by taking Route 90.
"If 90 was built to divert trucks away from Thomaston, that hasn’t happened," Thomaston homeowner Nancy Baker said.
Baker says she wants the town to give more details.
"I don’t know where they plan to route it,” Baker said. “How many? What houses? How do the people feel about it who live in those homes?”
Thomaston officials say they have no comment about the project, but at some point, after they finalize the plans, they’ll have to unveil it.