MAINE PUBLIC • September 14, 2021
The Maine Department of Transportation is seeking feedback as it considers the fate of a Route 1 causeway and dike system in Machias. On Tuesday evening, the department was planning to collect public comment and answer questions on whether the structure, which prevents tidal water from entering the Middle River through a series of gated culverts, should be rebuilt, rehabilitated or scrapped altogether. Conservation groups, such as the Downeast Salmon Federation, have argued that the causeway's gate system belongs in another century, and has altered the area's natural habitat significantly over the last 75 years.