Department of Transportation officials are contrite as Freeport residents blast the work done along Interstate 295.
Joni Tompson, who lives in the Freeport neighborhood perhaps most devastated by recent Maine Department of Transportation clear-cutting of trees along Interstate 295, made sure early on the morning of June 16 that people impacted knew about a meeting that was to take place.
Tompson, who lives at 54 Elm St. – now within easy sight of vehicles whizzing by on 295 – put it like this on Facebook: “All Freeport residents! If you can give us one hour of your time, please come to the Freeport (Community) Library at 6:30 for a meeting with DOT. …. Speak up: They need to hear from anyone/everyone affected. That includes those who drive it and find what they did offensive. Don’t want to talk? That is OK. Just come, fill the room and give them disgusted looks. …The DOT needs to realize the impact they have and learn from this so other neighborhoods don’t have this same experience. Also, we would like for them to consider solutions to help right a wrong.”
Tompson got her crowd, all right. At least 75 people filled the Freeport Community Library meeting space about 10 hours later, as the Town Council held its scheduled workshop for District 1, the area most affected by the wholesale cutting of trees the state has conducted. The meeting lasted for two hours – twice the allotted time. Plenty of grievances were aired. What’s less certain is anything that will be done to remediate the loss of the sound and sight barrier that the trees provided.
“The DOT has only said they’ll plant grass, or send the town some money,” Tompson said the next day. “At this point we are in a holding pattern to see what the DOT offers. I would like to think they would do something to resolve this, but I am skeptical that they will.”
The department said it cut all the trees in the interest of safety – that the huge canopy of trees was overdue for cutting, didn’t allow sun to melt the roadway in the winter and proved a site-distance problem for motorists encountering animals on the road. State officials reiterated those points at the June 16 meeting.
Some people affected by the clear-cutting have suggested that the state erect a long barrier along the highway, as it did in South Portland. Others have said they’d settle for tree plantings.
As for Tompson and her husband Charlie, they took matters into their own hands, and out of their pocketbook. The couple paid $4,250 for a stockade-style fence between their house and the chain-link fence that divides the neighborhood from the slender town right of way next to the highway. The town has done its part at the end of the dead-end street, as well, building a berm with trees planted on top, just a few yards from the Tompsons’ fence.
“We wanted it up in time for our son Hunter’s graduation,” Joni Tompson said. “We at least wanted to have a conversation in our yard. We got the fence up eight days before his graduation party.”
Tompson said that the wall has helped some with the sight issues, and just a little with the noise pollution.
Tompson said her neighborhood is “quite tight-knit” on the clear-cutting issue. She was satisfied with the turnout at the library.
“I felt that we were heard,” she said.
Dale Doughty, director of operations and maintenance for the Department of Transportation, and John Cannell, a regional manager, took the heat from the crowd in the library, and answered sometimes confrontational questions with steady, measured responses. Cannell said that visibility was an issue along the Freeport stretch – exits 20, 22 and 24 – of the highway. Animals running in front of motorists have been a serious safety hazard, he said. The trees also needed to be cut so that the sun can melt snow and ice in winter, he said.
Cannell said that the department designated a cut of approximately 100 feet in an area that has a narrow roadway.
“We’re trying to give people better visibility in that corridor and we’re trying to keep it clear of ice and snow,” he said.
Doughty said that the Department of Transportation proudly puts the word “trust” on the rear of its vehicles, and that the department is now on notice regarding that virtue. Many in town have complained that the state provided no notice of the impending clear-cutting to Freeport residents.
“It’s been a learning experience for us,” he said. “I’ll own that. But travel and safety are the No. 1 concern. I’m not sure anything would have changed, but we do need to have a better presence within the community.”
Scott Gleeson, the District 1 councilor, asked if there is any measurable data on the impact to the roadway of leaving some growth.
“I believe there isn’t,” Doughty answered. “In places where there are sensitivities we do need to work better. We want to work with your community.”
Tompson replied that she keeps getting different answers from the department.
“I’m really discouraged at this,” she said. “I hope you guys can consider doing something to help us. We were blindsided.”
Michelle Peacock, a neighbor of Tompson’s who lives on Oak Avenue, did some venting of her own.
“I can’t even open up our windows at night now,” Peacock said. “Let’s cut to the chase. Are you going to do anything about it?”
The answer remains to be seen.
Joni Tompson shows the 6-foot-high, 250-foot-long fence that she and her husband, Charlie, had built to hold down the noise and sight of vehicles traveling Interstate 295, not far from their home on Elm Street in Freeport. The Tompsons and others in the neighborhood have suffered from the effects of clear-cutting done recently by the Maine Department of Transportation. Courtesy photo
The crowd at the Freeport Community Library on June 16 wanted answers from the Maine Department of Transportation on the clear-cutting of trees along Interstate 295. Staff photos by Larry Grard
Dale Doughty, left, and John Cannell, Maine Department of Transportation officials, take tough questions on June 16 from the public regarding the clear-cutting the department has done along Interstate 295 in Freeport. The Town Council hosted the meeting, held at the Freeport Community Library.
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