REMINDER: Penobscot road closure starts April 20 at 6 am
Temporary trash disposal to be set up for West Penobscot residents
The meandering waters of Mill Creek, soon be the site of heavy construction, will be the dividing line that separates one side of Penobscot from another for up to 30 days. Photo by John Boit.
April 14, 2026
By John Boit
PENOBSCOT–Road work that will close Bayview Road (Route 175) for up to a month is set to begin April 20 at 6 a.m.
The closure will effectively cut the town in half while work is underway to replace a culvert and rebuild a road at Mill Creek, the outlet to Pierce’s Pond. The work will ultimately raise the height of the road, which is prone to flooding during storms and king tides.
In advance of the closure, town road commissioner Bill Hutchins and co-worker Mark Gross used a bulldozer and excavator on April 14 to move sand and salt from a pile near the stream to a temporary area at the town’s transfer station. But to make room for that, the town had to haul away dozens of discarded refrigerators and stoves at the transfer station this week.
The move was necessary because federal officials could not approve until May the relocation of the salt and sand pile to a location on the Western County Road where, ultimately, a new shed to house the materials will be built as part of the project.
Trash plan and mail service
Transfer station hours will remain open on Tuesdays and Saturdays as normal. For residents on the western side of the creek who are unable to access the transfer station, a compactor truck operated by Bowden & Son Disposal will be set up at RH Foster on the corner of the New Road and the Castine Road. That location will begin accepting trash on Saturday, April 25 and will be only open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Metal or demolition trash will not be accepted at the RH Foster location. All materials will continue to be accepted at the permanent transfer station near Pierce’s Pond.
The US Postal Service will continue to deliver mail to all residents. The post office says mail will continue to be delivered on the same days as normal, although some customers could be shifted to a later delivery window that same day.
“I’ll be awfully anxious to see that backhoe dig into the dirt on Monday [April 20],” said Penobscot select board chair Harold Hatch. “And I’ll be more than happy when I see the last piece of equipment hauled off and out of here when they are finished.”
To read more about the project, including school bus routes, the detour plan, and emergency services, please see The Rising Tide’s previous coverage.
