The Maine Won't Wait program is the official four-year climate action plan created by the Maine Climate Council to cut carbon pollution and prepare the state for climate change. The Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund was created to provide funding to Municipalities, Tribal Governments, and Infrastructure Districts to adapt existing critical infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts, such as sea level rise, increased precipitation, and other related climate risks.

In 2024, the Town of Machiasport Select Board applied for and has been awarded a $475k grant via Maine’s Infrastructure Adaptation Fund to move a 1035 ft. length of a storm surge-prone coastal right of way to be moved 35 feet inland in a coastal flood plain despite the Town being aware of a more resilient upland easement that has been offered to them for free with no restrictions from the property owners. The current Right of Way and location of the proposed project is on private property and was offered to the Town by the property owners when it was known as Beach Road, until the Town recently renamed it Port Road, which is the road the goes into town.

The Town’s grant application states that the coastal route is the only available route which it is not and it also states that 255 cars pass there daily when it’s more like 20. There are a variety of environmental issues, emergency access concerns that are all delineated in the application. The state of Maine's website states that it has allocated “$475,000 to the town of Machiasport to move an exposed portion of Port Road 1,035 feet inland” when in fact, it is the 1,035 foot length of road that will be moved only 35 feet inland. That misrepresentation suggests that the road is being relocated a 1/4 mile inland, but that is not the case. 

On September 18th, 2026, the Office of the Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner Joyce Taylor emailed that:

“The Town of Machiasport is responsible for the Port Road relocation project, and inquiries about its planning, scope, or schedule should be directed to town officials. To date, the $475,000 in grant funding awarded for this work has not been distributed.”

This statement follows multiple phone calls and many pages of historical documents that were provided to the DOT that indicate that there has been a viable upland easement that has been available to the Machiasport Town Select Board to accept as a public Right of Way (ROW) for many years. This ROW can provide safe passage and actually be resilient, being far from the coastline and all of the relevant impacts on the environment and ecosystem. This grant should never have been awarded due to that fact that there is this other viable option. It is not clear that the viability of the upland easement has ever been shared with the Machiasport community by the Town Select Board and I hope that we can help to inform the community about this much more resilient option that is available to pursue. 

Last week we also spoke with the Maine Office of Community Affairs, which is the home of The State Resilience Office. The office had no comment on all of the historical documentation that we provided and told us that we need to speak with the Maine DOT and stated that the DOT has the authority over this grant. But now, the Maine DOT has told us that we need to speak to the Town of Machiasport Select Board, who have applied for this grant with misinformation in that the coastal route is the ONLY option and that 255 cars travel that route daily. These are both false. The upland easement is known to them and the vehicle traffic is closer to 20 cars daily. 

We celebrate the successes of such necessary programs that the State of Maine has been funding and implementing via the Maine Won't Wait program. But the Machiasport grant does not fit the resiliency requirements with the upland easement being available. In the case of the Machiasport grant, the Select Board and Town Clerk have somehow convinced the state and community that the upland easement is somehow not viable or not resilient in comparison to the coastal ROW being moved further onto private property. It would seem that using the upland easement would save state taxpayers money in only needing a ROW to be constructed once, instead of endless improvements in the floodplain. The argument that it's better to continue encroaching on people's private property, getting closer and closer to their homes with this upland easement option is callous.

Most notable in the documents that we have now shared with many state offices and legislators are the comments from 2 separate Department of Environmental Protection officials that both advise that the coastal route be moved inland with one referencing taking the upland easement, with 34 years spanning their comments, 1989 and 2023.

Maine State Officials:

1. In a June 27, 2022 letter to the Select Board, The Maine Department of Environmental Protection Director, Eastern Maine Regional Office, James Beyer specifically advised that "given that sea-level rise is occurring, the rate of the rise is expected to increase, and coastal storms are becoming more severe, complying with [DEP requirements for maintaining the road] may prove problematic. I would strongly encourage the town consider relocating the road away from the ocean."
2. Furthermore, Sue Baker, State Coordinator for the National Flood Insurance Program at the Maine Emergency Management Agency (“MEMA”)  contacted the Town Clerk on December 11, 2023 to inform the Town "that there are hazard mitigation grant programs that may be used to design and relocate the road out of this environmentally sensitive area along the shoreline." Ms. Baker further advised the Town Clerk in an email dated December 12, 2023 "My concern is that the road continues to erode given its close proximity to the shoreline. Maintaining this road is going to be a never ending battle when considering future sea level rise. Relocating to the road is a much safer option, which is why I passed on the potential grant funding opportunity. My goal was simply to give the town another alternative to potentially help solve the problem."
3. July 26, 1989 RE: Starboard Island “Right-of-Way” “From an environmental standpoint, it would seem to me that a better solution would be to abandon future efforts to maintain the Shore Road and look for another right-of-way.” Jonathan A. Cullen, Division of Enforcement and Field Services, Bureau of Land Quality Control, State of Maine Department of Environment
4. “Beach Road has been an on-going issues for us again this year. This is the short road from Port. Rd. To Point of Maine. The Town holds a right-of-way across private land of two individuals as a result of legal action taken many years ago. While we have heard many complaints about the installation of rocks along the roadside, we must keep the way at 16 1/2’ as directed by the courts judgement. The Town Does not own this road and parking is prohibited there. Respectfully,  Marcia L. Hayward, Town Clerk”

It would seem that the truly resilient and durable option would necessitate that the grant be rejected and that the Town should reapply for funding to build the road behind the homes on the upland easement option. This grant application from the Town of Machiasport enables utilization of taxpayer’s resilience funds for a project that is not resilient with a clearly more resilient option being available. 

Help us raise awareness of the details of this grant application and the upland easement option to state entities for consideration of a truly resilient and sustainable use of Maine taxpayers funds within the state’s resiliency program.

Take the Upload Road!