Open Letters to Naples Residents from Concerned Citizens & Business Owners
Letter to the Editor of The Bridgton News: A BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS
Alan Lapidus, Registered Architect, Naples
The saga of the bridge on the Naples Causeway is a sad litany of bureaucratic clumsiness. When the existing bridge showed signs of its age, it was apparent that something needed to be done. The State examined the situation and then ignored the obvious, mandated the unnecessary, and then settled on the impractical.
Now the community is to choose between two unworkable solutions, either of which has "Disaster writ large upon it.
We can now see the Lakes Region's version of the "Big Dig" in the making. Anyone remember the last time when government built anything on time or on budget? Neither do I, and I have forty years of construction background.
To recapitulate - first the DOT offered the town a Bascule style bridge, with all the bells and whistles, for $11 million. Then they discovered they had under-estimated the cost, and it jumped to $18 million. They then went immediately to the other extreme, and are now pressuring the town to accept a fixed bridge for $6-8 million (the numbers keep changing), with a few cosmetics to the Causeway thrown in to make us feel better about losing our heritage and tax base.
We do not need to choose the lesser of two evils - between an $8 million stationary bridge that would be impractical, ugly and ruinous to boating and tourism, and a $14 million replacement swing bridge that the DOT hints the town will have to pay for (even though Rt. 302 is a state highway and the Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for navigable waters). None of this is necessary! It is possible to repair the existing bridge, and it will last for as long as we design it to, and even with the cost of steel rising, it can be done for less than $8 million dollars.
This is not just a problem with a bridge, or more specifically with the Naples Bridge. To say that this is only important to the businesses in Naples is like saying that the Pisquataqua Bridge is only important to the businesses in Kittery and Portsmouth.
Water is to Maine what oil is to Texas - a vital source of the State's revenue, whether it be the "Rockbound Coast of Maine," or the Songo River as it spoke to Longfellow in 1875. It is what generates the tourist revenue - and tourist revenue is what enables Maine to function. The swing bridge enables boats to travel from the south end of Sebago Lake to the North end of Long Lake. Putting in a fixed bridge would make it impossible for sailboats, the most eco-friendly of recreational craft, to make this transit, and it would also prevent larger craft from this route. The current attractive mix of boats that satisfy a variety of recreational tastes would change to a much higher percentage of low-slung, high power boats.
Aside from esthetics and practicality (and that is one heck of a big "aside"), the problems with two long ramps leading up to a fixed bridge are many and serious. To build these ramps, tons of soil would have to be placed and pounded to compaction on the delicate ecology of the shore of Long Lake. When the weight of all this compacted soil rests on the existing road roadbed (this is known as "overburden"), it exerts a downward force, and when this force meets with its terminal resistance, the pressure is redirected laterally and pushes against the adjacent soil. As an example, when I designed a high rise in South Florida, the weight of the building caused a blowout in a canal one mile away. Even the highly qualified geologist hired for the project was unable to predict how or where that pressure would get distributed.
Maine's soil is not the same as Florida, but Long Lake is just five feet away from the roadbed. There is also considerable doubt about what clearance the roadbed would have above the water. If, by substitution or design, the clearance is lower than ten feet, it would be a disaster to the tourist business of the region.
Let us now return to "the obvious" that I mentioned at the beginning of this polemic. The corollary to the old adage, "If it ain't broke, donŐt fix it" is, "If it's broke, FIX IT! I have been told that the DOT rejected this obvious solution with the statement that a fix would only last 20 years. This statement is ludicrous. Anything such as a steel bridge can be fixed, and the fix will last as long as it is designed to. And there is no way that fixing the basic mechanism of a thirty foot long swing bridge and its abutments is going to cost eleven million dollars! There are enough machine shops in the state of Maine that could churn this out in stride.
I pulled up stakes in my home town of New York City and relocated here because my son went to summer camp in Bridgton and I was entranced when I rolled across the little causeway bridge, and I vowed to relocate here as soon as I could. Let's do the obvious, and practical, and above all, let's not rob future tourists of this unique Maine experience.
Fran & Frank Keen
Bay View Cabins, Naples
As business owners on Route 302 in Naples, we are in favor of a moveable
span bridge. The most important reason for this is the impact a fixed span
bridge would have on the economy, not only in Naples, but in the Lakes Region as a
whole.
One of the main attractions to this tourist area is the many miles of
waterway provided by having access to three lakes, very desirable component
of lakefront owners. With a fixed span bridge, boat size would be restricted
- unless the bridge was so high that it would allow larger boats access
between Long Lake and Brandy Pond. If this happens, then the whole charming
appearance of Naples Village would change - it would comprise mostly of a
very long span of road to access a bridge of substantial height.
The Village itself is very appealing to tourists, as they can easily walk to
and from their destinations on either side of the bridge or across the
bridge.
If tourism is limited in this area, as we strongly feel it will be, the
State of Maine will lose the revenues it now receives from lodging, meal and
entertainment taxes.
It would also see much more unemployment in this area.
Even though we are a small business and do not have a large staff, we still
hire local people to take care of our lawn, remove waste, purchase from local
suppliers. We have people from out of state stay with us, who rent boats,
purchase fishing supplies and licenses, rent seaplanes and frequent the
local restaurants, gift and antique shops, grocery stores and purchase
gasoline from local stations.
The jury is still out on whether the fixed bridge will be able to accomodate
all the higher boats presently in the area, ie: Sail boats, approx 36 boats
in Naples Marina that would require the height of 14' as proposed. It seems
to me that as the contract goes out to bid, that the height will diminish.
The statement that indicates a requirement of an additional $8 million is
distorted. Naples originally was given $11 million to complete the movable
span bridge. It has been told to the residents that the same configuration
would now cost $18 million. However, it has never gone out for bid to get a
final cost estimate.
We feel that neither the MDOT nor the state has evaluated the situation
fully to determine the lost of revenue to the area vs the additional cost to
complete the movable span bridge.
Spencer Smith
Naples Properties, Inc.
We are being asked to vote on a bridge which at present time is undefined except for the fact that it will either be a swing bridge or a fixed bridge. The swing bridge is assumed to be like the present bridge in size and operation but no visual presentations have been made to validate this. The fixed bridge, with its 14 foot clearance, is also undefined visually. What will it look like and what visual impact will it have on the causeway? To get the 14 foot clearance under the bridge will require a massive structure and could well destroy the scenic views that have been so identified with Naples. Destroy this and you will seriously impact the tax base of the whole area, negatively. Vote 1A on May 20.
