Scarborough public works truck plowing water and ice off of the road. Courtesy photo / Jami Fitch
U.S. Route 1 and Pine Point Road in Scarborough are facing recurring challenges due to sea-level rise and storm events. The town received a grant to adapt to and fight climate change. The public is invited to comment on this initiative at a Nov. 9 meeting that will take place at 6 p.m. at Town Hall council chambers and over Zoom.
Pine Point Road is the primary gateway to Scarborough’s largest beach community, and it is also the main evacuation route for around 900 properties within the Pine Point area of Scarborough. Route 1 runs through the center of Scarborough, with an estimated daily traffic volume of 30,000 vehicles. Jami Fitch, Scarborough’s sustainability manager, said these roads are important as evacuation routes and the need for their resilience. “Both of these roads,” she said, “serve as evacuation routes, and it’s important that they remain passable during storm events. With sea level rise and storms that are becoming more intense and occurring more frequently, it’s apparent that these roads need to be upgraded.”
Scarborough is among 75 communities awarded a Community Action Grant to combat and adapt to climate change as part of the Community Resilience Partnership, an initiative launched by the governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. These grants support climate focused projects, such as crafting community climate action plans and safeguarding historic downtowns from rising sea levels. Scarborough has received $46,240 in funding for its project, “Climate-ready infrastructure: building a resilient Route 1 and Pine Point Road.” This funding will be utilized to develop strategies for enhancing the resiliency of Route 1 and Pine Point Road near the Maine Audubon Center.
“U.S. Route 1 and Route 9 have low-lying portions that are prone to wash over during astronomical high tides, also known as ‘king tides,’ when high tide exceeds 11.5 feet,” said Fitch. “King tides typically occur two to four times per year and provide U.S. with a glimpse of what our daily high tides may look like in the future due to sea level rise.”
Fitch said recent storm events have heavily impacted on these roads. “In 2022, we had two notable storm events that impacted these roads,” she said. “The first was on Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 17, 2022. The second storm was the Christmas Eve storm, Dec. 23, 2022, when high tide and storm surge caused serious flooding that led to closures of these roads and others in town.”
Angela Blanchette, Scarborough’s town engineer, said “The Route 1 and Pine Point Rd corridors are not only a great significance to our Scarborough residents, they are a critical piece to the regional transportation network. We are fortunate to be working closely with Maine DOT as they have many priorities throughout the State; however they have seen the significance of these roadways and the need to preserve these corridors well into the future. As we saw in the December of 2022 storm, it is not far in the future that these roadway segments will be lost if we are not proactive now.”
Snow, water and ice impact access on Route 1 in Scarborough. Courtesy photo/ Jami Fitch
To address these challenges, the “Climate-Ready Infrastructure: Building a Resilient Route 1 and Pine Point Road” project, funded by the Community Resilience Partnership, has been initiated. Fitch said, “The Town’s goal with the Resilient Route 1 and Route 9 project is to engage with MaineDOT, stakeholders, and the public to develop a strategy to ensure the long-term viability of Route 1 and Route. 9. Future work related to these roads includes working with Maine Department of Transportation to secure funding to implement the strategies developed through this process.”
Recognizing that Scarborough faces broader challenges related to sea-level rise, Fitch said, “As a coastal community, there are other areas and infrastructure that the Town and partners will need to address to become more resilient to sea level rise.” She said Scarborough’s Town Council has approved funding in the fiscal year 2024 budget to undertake a vulnerability assessment, which will commence in early 2024. The assessment aims to prioritize areas and infrastructure in need of upgrades, including engineering design and construction.
Regarding balancing road resiliency with the preservation of Scarborough Marsh, Fitch said, “It’s important to note that the road designs will not solve all of the challenges the marsh faces due to sea level rise. Protecting the marsh will require a multi-pronged approach, and the study being proposed by our partners will give U.S. a better understanding of how to protect the marsh in the future.”
The MaineDOT plays a crucial role in the development of resiliency strategies for these roadways. Fitch said, “MaineDOT owns these roads and ultimately decides how they are designed.” She said the department is collecting more data related to water levels in the marsh to help inform the road designs.
“The meeting on Nov. 9 will be an opportunity to introduce the project to the public and hear their feedback,” she said. The meeting will be recorded and streamed live, with opportunities for questions and input via email. Fitch said, “Public feedback will be incorporated into the road designs to the extent possible,” and said considering the community’s input in the design process will be important.
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