Two years after it was severely damaged in back-to-back winter storms, Seawall Road on Mount Desert Island has yet to be fully repaired as varying government entities have yet to reach an agreement on a final fix.
The road has been the subject of a yearlong dispute among the Maine Department of Transportation, the town of Southwest Harbor and Acadia National Park — through which part of Seawall Road runs — over who should pay for repairs and future maintenance, and when those repairs would ultimately happen.
Park and state authorities say the project’s construction timeline was still being finalized.
Plans to fix the road, which connects Southwest Harbor to Tremont and the park’s Seawall Campground, have already been delayed several times.
If the repairs can’t be made before the busy summer tourist season reaches peak traffic in July, they likely would wait until the fall or even the spring of 2027.
Last year, Acadia received congressional funding for storm-related damages, which park officials said will go toward fixing Seawall Road. The funding is being used through the Good Neighbor Authority, which allows the park service to partner with state and local governments to restore and maintain public land.
Under an agreement still being negotiated by park and state authorities, the park service would cover all costs of the project, requiring no contribution from local and state governments.
The project entails fixing about 1,500 feet of the road, the section running adjacent to Seawall Pond, and installing a culvert, according to Andrew Gobeil, communications director for the transportation department. The repairs are currently estimated to cost $1.45 million, he added.
“MaineDOT and the National Park Service are in the process of completing plans and we appreciate the continued collaboration between our teams to move this project forward,” Gobeil said. “We’ll provide additional updates as the agreement is finalized and the construction schedule is confirmed.”
In February, Gobeil said the state planned to start construction this spring, with the intention of finishing work by June. The following month, at the region’s March League of Towns meeting, an Acadia official said the park had a technical problem transferring the funding to the state.
Amanda Pollock, an Acadia spokesperson, confirmed on Wednesday that the technical issue has since been resolved but said the project’s details — including the construction schedule —- are still being solidified.
After the road was rendered impassable by 2024 winter storms and closed for several months, the transportation department allowed local businesses to temporarily fix the road — but those fixes are not expected to hold as climate change brings rising sea levels and harsher storms.
The closure forced emergency vehicles to take longer alternate routes and cut off the campground and Bass Harbor Head Light Station from nearby businesses.
Karen Reddersen, Southwest Harbor’s town manager, did not respond to multiple inquiries from the Bangor Daily News.
