BREAKING NEWS: Seawall Road to open today at 5 p.m.

Before and after photos …

SOUTHWEST HARBOR, July 26, 2024 - The best feel-good story in years on the Quietside came to a grand finale today, when crews from five area contractors put the finishing touches on the repair of Seawall Road which connects Tremont and this town with the major access to popular sections of Acadia National Park.

“Seawall Road will be open at 5pm. They made it happen,” Town Manager Marilyn Lowell stated in an email to stakeholders - contractor who donated equipment and labor, businesses and citizens who rallied to feed and care for the workers, representatives of Acadia National Park who were equally grateful for the donations and members of the SWH select board and town staff, and State Sen. Nicole Grohoski.

George Seavey, owner of Acadia Towing who provided food and other support, said he is going to lobby the state DOT to pay back the contractors by giving them road work over the winter.

He estimated they donated $250,000 in labor and materials for the week’s work, after the state DOT said it couldn’t repair the storm-ravaged road until next spring. “They also lost income because the crew wasn’t available for other work,” Seavey said.

Seavey said he was heartened to see longtime heavy equipment competitors John Goodwin Jr. and Doug Gott & Co. rally behind the cause as teammates. Other contractors were BFP Trucking, Northeast Paving and Rings Paving. GT Outhouses provided porta potties for free to the workers and volunteers.

George Seavey grills steaks at Seawall. The final work day had a festive atmosphere as the volunteers celebrated the completion of the project.

Their donations allowed the towns of Tremont and Southwest Harbor, and the National Park Service, to coalesce around an extraordinary community effort to compel the DOT to accept the temporary repair so that half the season may be salvaged.

At the urging of the towns and State Sen. Grohoksi, DOT deputy commissioner Dale Doughty appeared before almost 200 residents in Pemetic School June 27 to hear their pleas to repair Seawall Road.

The QSJ reported that the two towns collected $65 million in state sales taxes in FY23 - most of it during the tourist season when traffic on Seawall Road to that section of the park and the Bass Harbor lighthouse is at its peak.

Multiple winter storms destroyed sections of the road - the major egress into Acadia National Park’s Seawall Campgrounds and two popular trails leading down to the edge of the ocean. It is also a lifeline for businesses such as a lobster pond and camping supply store.

Charlotte Gill, owner of Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound, said her business is down 60 percent this year because of the closing of the road.

She said the coming together of the community was remarkable.

The DOT stated that it expects the temporary road to be destroyed again next winter after which it will reinforce Seawall Road with more resilient features such as “gabion baskets.” Not everyone agreed. “It was open for 20 years until last winter,” one said.

Seavey said he was motivated to support the effort because of life-safety concerns. With the closing of Seawall Road, first responders must drive a circuitous way to get to places like the Seawall Campground. “Four or five minutes could make a big difference,” he said.

Sign erected by the Town of Tremont on Seawall Road. Charlotte Gill said she will provide a more permanent home for the sign at Seawall Motel.