SKOWHEGAN — Residents of Hilton Hill Road awaited word Thursday from state transportation officials about a road project they say is dangerous and could result in tragedy.

About 50 people showed up for a meeting Wednesday night to protest the construction of a new entrance to the road from state Route 150 north of downtown Skowhegan. The $300,000 project also includes removal of an aging bridge that Department of Transportation project manager Steve Bodge said is deteriorating.

In response to public comments Wednesday night, Bodge said he will schedule a meeting on the project with other state transportation officials as early as today.

“I will go all the way to the commissioner if I have to,” he told residents.

State Sen. Rodney Whittemore, R-Skowhegan, said he wants to be at the meeting, which there was no word of as of Thursday afternoon.

Residents said they want the project stopped before winter and before someone gets killed trying to make the 90-degree turn onto their road from Route 150

“This is a very, very serious situation,” resident Georgie Wright told transportation officials. “It’s my children; it’s the people who come to visit us.”

Residents said the new entrance to their road is just 30 feet after the main bridge on Route 150. School buses, delivery trucks and other vehicles with trailers will have to make a wide turn into the oncoming lane of traffic to make it onto Hilton Hill and will have trouble navigating the turn when the bridge freezes, they said.

In addition, people said the new slope of the hill is much steeper with the new construction, making a tough assent in winter even tougher.

Bodge and other officials Wednesday acknowledged that the hill will have a steeper pitch once the project is completed.

Resident Janet McCollor took the complaints a step farther, telling transportation officials that her property has been damaged by the construction and the department has been unresponsive to her complaints. She said the work has had a negative impact on her well, her septic system, her driveway and her yard.

“There’s been no customer service from DOT,” McCollor said, her voice shaking. “You’ve done nothing. My property has been ravaged. Plans have to be changed.”

Bodge, along with assistant traffic engineer Steve Landry, safety office director Duane Brunnel and regional traffic engineer Gene Uhuad, offered some suggestions at the meeting to some of the perceived flaws in the project design, but residents rejected them Wednesday night.

Residents suggested contractors move the new entrance to Hilton Hill north, about 100 feet and add a right-side turning lane so vehicles can safely slow down before making the turn. They said they wanted more than warning signs and no-passing zones — they want the project design fixed or stopped — and the old bridge reopened for the winter.

Bodge said the cost of repairing the old bridge would be more than the project to remove it. He said the state has a signed contract in place to complete the job as it was designed and to put a halt to it now could mean more problems.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

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