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An ex marks the spot on Lubec Neck where a new commercial harbor will be built, with help from a federal BUILD grant. The checkmark shows where the current commercial fishing wharf is.
November 13, 2019
Safety, rural economy focus sparked Lubec, Woolwich grant awards
Photo / Maureen Milliken
Lubec has been awarded a $19.6 million federal grant to create a safe harbor for commercial and recrational boats, which will be south down Lubec Neck from the boat landing at the tip of the peninsula, seen here.
By Maureen Milliken
What exactly are BUILD grants?
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A federal focus on "underinvestment" in rural infrasctructure, and particularly safety issues caused by it, is behind the $44.6 million in grant money awarded to Lubec's Safe Harbor project and the state Woolwich U.S. Route 1 bridge replacement.
The two are among 55 projects in 35 states that will share $900 million under the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development Transportation Discretionary Grants program. Maine's awards were first announced last week by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins' office.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said in a news release this year's BUILD awards reflect the federal government's attempt "to rebalance historic underinvestment in rural America." The department awarded 50% of the program's funding to projects in rural areas, including the two Maine projects, which add up to $44 million.
The maximum grant award was $25 million, and no more than $90 million can be awarded to a single state. The Lubec and Woolwich projects are the only ones in Maine that got funding in the 2019 round.
The grants are for investments in surface transportation infrastructure and were awarded on a competitive basis "to projects with a significant impact in their local or regional communities." The program selection criteria included an emphasis on safety, the release said, as well as economic competitiveness, quality of life, state of good repair, environmental sustainability, innovation and partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders.
Lubec Safe Harbor grant
The Lubec project, which will provide a year-round safe harbor for fishermen and recreational boaters, was awarded $19,650,000; the total cost of the project is $19,689,750. The balance of the cost is being paid with a $30,000 grant from the Maine Department of Marine Resources and another from the Butler Foundation.
"The project will mitigate the inclement weather or winds coming from the north that have caused fishermen to die, boats to sink, loss of property and many cases of hypothermia," the project description says.
Plans to make the harbor safer, as well as more open to job growth, include building a new wharf farther south on Lubec Neck in Johnson Bay from the wharf that many now use at the tip of the peninsula. It will include a boat launch, breakwater and wharf that will accommodate 35 boats, according to the project description.
Plans also include sheltered mooring and pier, a two-way road to the end of the pier and two hoists for boats. Solar lighting will be used.
The upgrades to the pier will also make it sustainable for the long-term, spurring job growth, and direct benefits to the fishing market, the description says.
A 2015 University of Maine study profiling eastern Maine fishing communities, said there are about 50 fishing boats, 25 of them lobster boats, ported in Lubec, although not all are moored at the harbor. The state reported about 260 fishing licenses, including 118 for commercial fishing, 42 for lobster or crab and others for commercial shellfish, urchin, scallop, eel and more, though more than one license may be held by the same person, the report said.
Final engineering work on the project has to be done, with it possibly going out to bid in 2021, with completion in 2023, Carol Dennison, chair of the Lubec Select Board and a member of the Safe Harbor Committee, told the Quoddy Tides newspaper.
The project site is next to town-owned property were the public works garage once was, and would be done in phases, with the first half of the breakwater finished early, and and extending the breakwater, installation the hoists and finishing the road as the final part.
Photo / Maureen Milliken
The Fisherman's Memorial in Lubec has the names of more than 100 fisherman who died on the job since 1900 in Washington County and Charlotte County, New Brunswick.
Keeping fishermen alive
The construction would also reduce response time for the Maine Marine Patrol, the description says. The plan includes dock space for the Maine Marine Patrol, which would have full-time coverage in the harbor, officials said at public meetings about the project earlier this year.
Fishermen safety has long been an issue in the town, which is far Down East on the Bay of Fundy. A memorial was erected in 2016 with the names of 103 fishermen from Washington County, as well as Charlotte County, New Brunswick, who died at sea since 1900. The memorial effort was spurred by the loss of five fishermen in Cobscook Bay in 2009.
Trescott resident Julie Keene, who is chair of the town's Safe Harbor Committee, researched harbor safety and found that four boating deaths could have been prevented by a breakwater similar to the one planned — all four were attempting to come ashore during bad weather, the Quoddy Tides reported.
In one case, the Marine Patrol couldn't officers launch in time to prevent someone succumbing to hypothermia in Lubec Narrows because all of the potential launch locations were blocked by built‑up ice.
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A red circle shows the Station 46 Bridge in Woolwich, which will be replaced with help from a $25 million federal BUILD grant.
Woolwich bridge replacement
The grant to the Maine Department of Transportation is to replace the aging U.S. Route 1 bridge over the Sasanoa River, which connects Nequasset Lake to Pleasant Cove. It's about two miles north of the bridge that links Bath and Woolwich over the Kennebec River.
The grant is for $25 million of the $30 million replacement cost. The bridge is "at the end of its useful life," according to the grant document.
The bridge, built in 1933, with major upgrades in 1957 and 1977. It was most recently upgraded in 2013, at a cost of $1.17 million. Closing it altogether is not an option, causing major traffic shifts, more miles traveled for those who would use it, and the potential for more crashes in the area.
"In this rural area, this bridge is part of the most direct route to numerous employment centers and job opportunities," the document says. "It improves the long-term efficiency and reliability in the movement of workers and goods by being built for a 100-year service life.
"Route 1 is in a region vital to the tourism industry and a critical route for residents along U.S. Route 1 by enabling businesses to connect to their suppliers, while allowing recreational enthusiasts continued access to Maine's outdoor activities that drive tourism in the state."
An average of 19,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day, according to the Maine Department of Transportation, which said work should begin in 2022, and conclude the following year.
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