MAINE PUBLIC • October 31, 2022
East of downtown Machias, Route 1 passes over a dike-bridge, with the Machias River estuary to the south, and the Middle River to the north. For the last 150 years the dike has prevented tides from flowing up into the Middle River. But the structure has deteriorated, and locals are divided over what to do. Under pressure from federal fisheries regulators, the Maine Department of Transportation announced in June that its preferred alternative is to replace the dike with a bridge. That, Charlie Foster of the Downeast Salmon Federation says, would allow alewives, smelt, striped bass and Atlantic salmon to swim freely into the Middle River. And it would create a rare opportunity to restore natural salt marsh habitat — and sequester carbon. Chris Sprague opposes the bridge plan. His meadows upstream would be inundated. “The theory behind the sea level rising, I don't really buy that," Sprague says. In the middle of the debate are local officials.