Kennebunkport's new causeway expected to protect island and pier for the next 50 years

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — Standing alongside town and state officials, Governor Janet Mills snipped the large red ribbon in half at the Pier Road Causeway on Monday, July 1, and triumphantly raised her oversized pair of scissors above her head.

With that snip, the town’s Pier Road Resiliency Project – its effort to protect the causeway against the elements for decades to come – is complete.

Before she wielded those scissors, Mills called the causeway, which connects Bickford Island and the Cape Porpoise Pier, the “lifeline for the people who visit and live and do business” there. She noted how the road had been damaged by weather-related events over the years, making projects such as this one a priority.

“This harbor is home to the largest commercial fishing fleet between Portland and Portsmouth,” Mills said. “We can’t leave Pier Road or other roads like it as vulnerable as it has been.”

Mills said people have been “drawn to the dockside streets of Kennebunkport,” with its sights of a “traditional fishing harbor,” for more than a century.

“I’m proud that we’re working together to protect the character and the charm and the culture of this community and the health and safety of its people, its residents, its businesses, and its visitors,” she said.

Mills congratulated the town on completing the project.

“You have my gratitude for your continued partnership in the fight against Climate Change across Maine,” she said.

Moments before Mills arrived, Town Manager Laurie Smith said she was excited to see the idea of improving the causeway “come to fruition,” especially as the result of a collaboration between the town and state. Smith also expressed appreciation for the neighbors who live near the causeway and were impacted by the project’s construction.

Smith called the project not just a cause for celebration for Kennebunkport but also for Mills and her administration’s efforts to create resiliency projects throughout Maine.

Smith also applauded the town’s Select Board for having the “foresight to raise the road at an elevation that maybe not everyone was comfortable with at the time.”

Carried out by Woodward & Curran Engineering and Sargent Construction, the project is the result of a $2.6 million grant the town secured from Maine’s Infrastructure Adaptation Fund Program. The town matched those funds to the tune of $66,314.

Eric LaBelle, starting his first day as the local director of public works, said the town wanted to limit the environmental impacts of the project.

“We stayed within the existing footprint,” he said.

Crews finished the project, which started in February, as recently as this past weekend, LaBelle added.

“They were basically putting in plantings and such over the weekend,” he said.

Bruce Van Note, the commissioner of the state’s Department of Transportation, called the project a “testament of what you can do when you all work together.”

Before the project started, the causeway had been battered by storms and flooding for years, most recently during the heavy rain and high tides of the twin weather events that hit the region back in January. During these king tides and surges, the town needed to close the passage.

The project celebrated on Monday is part of the town’s community-wide effort to make local infrastructure resilient in the face of climate change projections and concerns. According to Smith, the new causeway is expected to last around 50 years.

The project, which covered the causeway’s 450-foot span, called for raising the road approximately four feet to guard against water surges, protect infrastructure, and maintain access for residents, fishermen, and first responders during storms and their aftermaths.

Smith said the improvements are meant to address the predicted rise in sea level in the next quarter-century. She also said the measures are consistent with the state’s and the town’s climate action plans.

In a press release, Kennebunkport Select Board Chair Allen Daggett called Pier Road an “integral part” of the town’s “economic engine,” given that it provides the sole access to the local commercial pier. As many as 50 commercial fishing vessels use that pier and boost the local economy by as much as $10 million each year, according to Daggett.

“The raising of Pier Road was not only needed for the safety of residents and businesses today but also for the future of our town and the continued success of the regional fishing community,” Daggett said.

According to Smith, the Pier Road project is just the beginning, the first of several planned to increase resilience in Kennebunkport. Other projects in the works include the reconstruction of the Cape Porpoise Pier and addressing the impacts of flooding along the Kennebunk River.

The state established the Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund in 2021. The following year, the state’s Department of Transportation awarded nearly $20 million in funds to 12 communities, including Kennebunkport.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Gov. Mills cuts the ribbon on new Pier Road Causeway in Kennebunkport