Turnpike May Get New Rest Area

Friday, May 13, 2005

Turnpike May Get New Rest Area... VERY CLOSE TO PLEASANT POND

By GARY REMAL
Staff Writer

Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

WEST GARDINER -- Maine Turnpike Authority officials say they have begun preliminary planning for a possible giant new combined rest stop near the intersection of Interstate 295 and the turnpike.

Construction planners have scouted the land near the Turnpike Authority's West Gardiner maintenance facility on Route 126, looking for wetlands or other environmental problems with the proposal, authority spokesman Bruce Pelletier said.

Neighbors have heard rumors of the proposal for some time. Last fall several owners of land near a 45-acre plot owned by the Turnpike Authority on the opposite side of Route 126 from the turnpike maintenance garage received letters asking for permission to examine their properties.

Pelletier said turnpike officials have discussed with state transportation officials a joint rest plaza in the area, and that it would serve cars and trucks on both the turnpike and I-295.

But he said there have been no decisions about the size, location, funding or construction schedule of such a project.

"It's all preliminary. We're looking at options, but we're not moving ahead for a while," Pelletier said. "We haven't talked price (with neighboring landowners). We're not talking if we need it or want it.

"Potentially we could wrap it up and get an agreement with Department of Transportation and have it all done by the end of the year, or it could be shelved and not do anything for five years," he said. "It all depends on how it comes together."

Both turnpike and state transportation officials say they are studying ways to provide better rest-area facilities all along Maine highways, particularly for improved safety for trucks and their drivers.

Gregory Nadeau, an aide to state Transportation Commissioner David Cole, said discussions with turnpike officials have taken place, but no agreement on a joint venture or how to pay for it has been signed.

Neighbors have said they've seen surveyors in the area and assume they are connected with the project. Pelletier there have been examinations of the area.

"Probably what they saw are environmental guys looking at wetlands and marking out spots that are wet," he said.

Turnpike officials probably would not seek to take land for the plaza by eminent domain against the wishes of nearby landowners.

"We have 45 acres there," Pelletier said. "If there are some people nearby who want to sell, we might want to purchase their property, but only if they wanted to sell."

Darryl Zeleniak, a board member for both the Four Towns Watershed Association and the Friends of Cobbossee Watershed who lives on nearby Pleasant Pond, said concern is growing among homeowners in the area.

Many people worry about the potential harm that a new plaza could cause to a nearby pond, he said.

"It depends on how it's handled. We're not opposed, necessarily, to their project; but we don't know what they're planning," Zeleniak said. "Our board members are concerned because we haven't had input and they haven't told us what's going on."

Although turnpike officials say they will hold public meetings if they decide to go ahead, Zeleniak said he worries that the project might be too far along for neighbors to have much influence then.

Pelletier said the Turnpike Authority had prepared some preliminary plans and maps to help determine the possible size of a plaza and how it might fit in different options.

"But that could be changed, downsized or moved to another spot," he added.

APRIL 24 - Damage to the New Mills Dam caused by high water from heavy rains and melting snow has been repaired.  Water levels were at their lowest levels since the flood of 1987.

The wooden uprights that hold the flashboards in place were destroyed. Without the flashboards in the dam, the surface elevation of Pleasant Pond and Cobbossee Stream above the dam would be nearly five vertical feet lower than normal.

Installation of new uprights and flashboards was completed April 23rd and re-filling the pond and stream began immediately after repairs are completed. Weather conditions will determine how fast the pond and stream rise to normal levels.

Similar damage occurred at the New Mills Dam in the flood of April 1987and was repaired after the pond and stream level dropped to four feet below normal.

The municipalities of Gardiner, Litchfield, and Richmond own the dam. Ridgewood Renewable Power operates the dam for the municipalities, although no power is generated at the dam. Water levels management is under the jurisdiction of the Cobbossee Watershed District.

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