Road between Brooklin and Blue Hill reopens with one lane

By Steele Hays

BROOKLIN — Route 175 between Blue Hill and Brooklin partially reopened to motorists on Sept. 11 after being closed since early August, generating sighs of relief from local businesses and local residents, some of whom have had to make a longer drive via Sedgwick to reach Blue Hill. 

The road work, which began in early August, closed the road to all traffic between Flye Point Road and Brooklin. It was expected to last only 21 days, but workers excavating the site to install a new culvert hit a large rock ledge that had to be cut away with drills, according to Brooklin Road Commissioner Steve Pinkham, adding weeks to the project.

Drills needed to be used to cut away ledge to make way for a new culvert, causing road reconstruction delays. Photo by Steele Hays.

Employees at the Brooklin General Store and Brooklin Inn said that the closure had not negatively impacted their businesses, but that was not the case for the Brooklin Candy Company, which is located closer to the road work than other Brooklin retailers. 

“This closure has eliminated drive-by traffic past the shop, and has slowed what’s usually a bustling month into a very, very slow trickle of visitors,” Blossom Kravitz, Brooklin Candy’s owner, posted on her social media account in late August. “A number of days we’ve only had a few people in!” 

Since September 11, traffic has been moving on one lane through the work site, with flaggers controlling the traffic flow.  

The Maine Department of Transportation has not provided an updated schedule for completion of the work.