Roads, Roads, Roads
Did you know? The state and town maintain Harpswell’s major roads, but 63% of Harpswell’s roads, 96.7 miles, are privately owned and property owners are responsible for resurfacing, repairing steam crossings and plowing.
Harpswell neck Road (Rte.123), Mountain Road, Harpswell Islands Road (Rte 24), Mountain Rd and Cundy’s Harbor Road (to sign opposite Holbrooks) are state roads and maintained by the state.
Town Public Roads
In general, the town knows which 7 public roads and landings are predicted to flood with 1-2 feet of SLR by 2050. They are:
Abner Point Road, Bailey Island
Basin Point Road, Harpswell Neck
Bethel Point Road, bridge/ Hen Cove, Cundy’s Harbor
Dingley Island Road, bridge, East Harpswell
Garrison Cove Road Landing, Bailey Island
Lookout Point Road Landing, Harpswell Neck
Lowell’s Cove Road, Orr’s Island
To learn about the town’s common approaches to address road issues in Harpswell, view the 2 items below.
Abner Point Road, Bailey Island
Harpswell Roads Resiliency Stakeholders Workshop Jan 31 2024 Opportunity for stakeholders in Bethel Point and Abner Point Roads to engage in discussion with the engineers on how to keep roads passable during high tides and storm surges. Interesting for all residents to hear about the scope of work that can be done. Follow along with the excellent slide presentation from the workshop.
For more current in-depth information on the status of specific public roads in Harpswell see Harpswell Public Road Assessment Workshop, June 12, 2023. A must see especially from the perspective of knowing the infrastructure damage by the storms in February, 2024. Some accurate predictions!
Private Roads and Road Associations
This section is devoted to supporting property owners by providing relevant information on road associations and How-to resources to address specific coastal infrastructure needs.
A legal road association is an important first step to equitably handle the larger infrastructure expenses that will increase as rising tides and storms impact roads. Maine statute has made it easier and less expensive to form a road association!
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What are the benefits of forming a Road Association?
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Why do we need a statutory road association?
Find the answers to those questions and more in the comprehensive, easy to understand Guide to Forming Road Associations, published by ME Dept of Environmental Protection, updated in 2020. Also Road Association members in Harpswell have “hands-on” experience in maintaining their roads! If you would like to talk to a Road Association member please email Harpswell Conservation Commission (HCC) at Roads@town.harpswell.me.us.
The Conservation Commission is interested in having contact information for Harpswell road associations so that new information can be passed along to its members. Please email HCC at Roads@town.harpswell.me.us or call the Town Office at 207.833.5771..
Handy Access to necessary form:
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Appendix to Guide – fillable forms
Note: Maintenance and emergency access on private roads are the responsibility of the property owners living along their road.
Private Road Owners How Tos
For a deeper dive into road structure and road owners’ maintenance check out these resources to help property owners understand and address their specific coastal infrastructure needs.
Checkout the resources below and contact the Conservation Commission Roads@town.harpswell.me.us with your questions.
In addition to extensive information (with diagrams) on road maintenance, the manual offers a Section called “Understanding the Basics” that is helpful to understand drainage, erosion and vegetative buffers. Gravel Road Maintenance Manual
The Road Maintenance and Stream Crossings document includes the Audubon Stream Smart program. Road Maintenance and Stream Crossings
Did you know that the majority of bridges and stream crossings on Harpswell roads that cross salt marshes and coastal wetlands are not equipped to handle the ebb and flow of the tides? This results in higher road maintenance costs, a shortened lifespan for culverts, unplanned road closures, and harm to commercial fisheries and shoreline habitats. Particulars are explained below.
In July 2023 a group of more than 30 organizations, headed by the Department of Marine Resources’ Maine Coastal Program, released a 100-page long guide The CoastWise Approach on how to make tidal crossings more resilient. The document is aimed at road owners, engineers, and anyone else who’s interested in helping to replace tidal road culverts and bridges with safe, climate-resilient crossings. Take a look!
King Tide Monitoring Photos that document high tides on public and private roads in Harpswell.