Residents press town to oppose Main Street widening; manager says school-design team is submitting longer DOT review

Residents at the Jan. 13 public discussion asked the Council to oppose widening Main Street as part of a school-related traffic project and pressed whether the town or school had started a formal process with the Maine Department of Transportation.

Melissa Gautin and Greg Smith, both Main Street residents, said neighbors who attended a recent school-district presentation voted unanimously in favor of keeping Main Street at its existing width and asked how the town would register that preference with DOT. Smith said he believed the DOT does not initiate projects without an application and wanted to know whether an application had been filed.

The Town Manager responded that the school’s design team—led in the transcript by engineer Randy Dunn of Gorrell & Palmer and a design lead identified as Pat Carroll—initially sought an expedited DOT review. According to the manager, DOT reviewers asked for comments and concluded the project did not qualify for an expedited track; the design team moved to the longer review process. The manager said the longer application package should include the town’s statement of preferences on traffic movements and that town staff would prepare such input for submission. A resident said he planned to send a draft letter with the town’s preference (no widening) to engineer Randy Dunn by the close of business the following day so it could be included in the school’s application.

Why this matters: a DOT determination on whether to widen Main Street would affect parking, pedestrian crossings, drainage and the character of the town center. Residents asked the council to weigh in because the town’s position is a factor in state review and funding decisions.

The manager told the speakers the town will follow up with detailed answers outside the meeting when staff can confirm technical steps and timelines. Councilors and others said the town should register the community’s preference — particularly given the recent Main Street improvements and residents’ safety concerns, including new drainage and icing at some crosswalks.

No formal council action was taken during public discussion; residents and the school-design team were encouraged to coordinate and to include the town’s preference language with the DOT submission.