BREAKING NEWS: State DOT said to balk at repairing Seawall Road access to Acadia

SOUTHWEST HARBOR, March 27, 2024 - The select board was told by its roads foreman Tuesday night that the state DOT wants to abandon Seawall Road “for the foreseeable future” after sections were destroyed by several severe winter storms. The road is on a causeway which is the main egress to a campground and two scenic Acadia National Park trails at the Tremont border.

The Seawall causeway separates the ocean from Seawall Pond and is the major artery feeding into Seawall Campground

Foreman Scott Alley said the state was not eager to spend money to repair a road with a high likelihood it could be destroyed in another storm.

The road was opened by the state days after a severe storm and surge of water and rocks pounded the causeway on Jan. 12. Select chair Carolyn Ball said she was surprised to see the state repair the road only to have later storms destroy it again.

Member Natasha Johnson said it made sense for the DOT to wait to repair the road properly by fortifying it with a retaining wall. But she said the park service wanted to retain the aesthetics of “round stones” which she said would only wash away again.

Neither the DOT nor the park service could be reached for comment.

Without the causeway, the only access to Wonderland and Ship Harbor trails and the historic Bass Harbor Light is to take a circuitous route into Bass Harbor, which is 25 minutes longer.

Bass Harbor already suffers from what locals regard as severe traffic problems in the area of the lighthouse.

Select member Johnson also expressed concern about a proposal for Southwest Harbor to provide police coverage for neighboring Tremont if Seawall is cut off to emergency vehicles.

Maintenance of Seawall Road is an almalgam of resources provided by the DOT, the town, which does the plowing, and the park service.