For the second time in three years, Joseph Creamer is challenging incumbent Jack Shaw for his job as Woolwich road commissioner. Election Day is on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The road commissioner is elected for a three-year term. Although the position is unpaid, the road commissioner can bill the town for hours served, including responding to or investigating a road-related problem. This year the townspeople voted to raise and appropriate $60,000 for maintenance and repair of roads and bridges; $90,000 was raised for hot topping. Voters also authorized spending up to $61,000, if available, from the state’s Local Road Assistance Program (LRAP) for road repaving and other road related projects. The board of selectmen administers the town’s snowplowing contract.

 Joe Creamer

If elected road commissioner, Creamer said he’ll work with the board of selectman to do whatever he can to make Woolwich’s roads safer for motor vehicle traffic, bicyclists and pedestrians.

Creamer, who ran for road commissioner and was defeated in 2012, said this time around he’s campaigning for the job. “I’m knocking on doors, introducing myself to people, sharing my ideas with them and listening to what they’ve got to say.”

Creamer, 55, resides on Dana Mill Road. He worked for the city of Bath’s highway department as a heavy equipment operator for 11 years and a foreman there for six years. For six or so months he also filled in as public works director. He now operates his own general contractor business, Creamer & Sons Landwork. The business does excavating and paving.

Creamer has many ideas for making Woolwich’s roads safer. For starters he’d like to see large rocks and wooden posts that were placed as barriers along the roadsides replaced with engineered guardrails.

“Rocks and wooden posts are outdated and unsafe. Steel guardrails are designed to protect motorists; they decrease the chance of serious injuries and fatalities,” he said.

Creamer said he’d work with selectmen to do a few roads at a time, addressing the most unsafe areas first. One place he mentioned was on Old Stage Road near the bridge spanning Nequasset Brook.

Creamer said there’s also a need for roadside maintenance along many of the town’s back roads. “There are a number of narrow roads where the road shoulder needs to be better defined.” Tree and brush trimming would help increase visibility, improving safety, he said. Thinning the trees would also allow more sunlight to reach the road and help melt snow in the winter.

Creamer said improvements were needed at the railroad crossing on Meadow Road. “I’d like to see this part of the road elevated and straightened out. This is another area too that should be considered for guardrails.” He said the railroad or MDOT might be willing to share in the improvement costs because making the crossing safer is in their best interests as well.

Creamer feels several more stop signs are needed in town. One intersection he mentioned was on Shaw Road.

Three years ago Creamer advocated for more road striping. “Traffic is even heavier now. There’s very little street lighting making the roads quite dark. Painting a double yellow-line in the center of the road really helps with visibility, especially on curves and hills and when the weather is bad. On the narrower roads, I think having center lines helps slow drivers down.”

Creamer said many people he’s talked with like his ideas. “This time I think I’ll do a lot better at the polls.”

Jack Shaw

Shaw grew up in Woolwich on Walker Road where he still lives and operates Jack Shaw & Sons, Inc., his excavation and general contractor business.

Shaw, 69, enjoys serving as road commissioner. He’s held the position 32 years. “For me it’s been a way of giving something back to the community,” he said. “This is where I grew up and raised my own family.”

Shaw said there’s a great deal of responsibility in maintaining the town’s 50-plus miles of town roads. Woolwich is a small community and doesn’t have a lot of businesses to share in the property tax burden, he said. “We have to watch our expenses closely and also spend what monies we do have for road maintenance wisely.”

Shaw added that in the 32 years he’s been road commissioner, he’s never gone over budget. “Not once!”

Shaw said road repaving this year included one mile of Chopps Cross Road, Section 5 of Old Stage Road from Mountain Road intersection to the Wiscasset town line, and Gray Corner Road. “It’s all completed and it went very well,” he added.  

How much the town paves depends on what the town receives in state road assistance, he explained. “You never really know from year-to-year how much you’ll have to work with. We do our best and stretch it (LRAP monies) as far as we can.”

In response to a resident’s concern, Shaw recently had traffic lines painted on George Wright Road. “We did center lines and along both road shoulders,” he said. “I felt it was warranted because it’s very heavily traveled. Also, if there’s an accident on Route 1, the George Wright Road is often used by emergency personal as the bypass route.

“When I contacted the state, MDOT told me that once you choose to stripe a road, you have to continue doing so,” he continued. “The costs can really add up fast and striping a road doesn’t necessarily mean people are going to drive any slower.”

Shaw said the hours he puts in as road commissioner varies. “People know how to reach me if they have a question or problem. We have a really good communications network in place with the sheriff’s department, the school, town office and fire department. For instance, if there’s a tree or limb blocking the road, we can usually get to it and cleaned up in about 20 minutes. I encourage people to call me if they have a concern or see the potential of there being a problem,” he added.

The road commissioner can charge for his time for answering a call, but Shaw never has and doesn’t plan to start. “I only charge when heavy equipment is used,” he said.

“All things considered, I think we’ve done a pretty good job over the years with the upkeep of our roads.”

Polls at Woolwich Central School will open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. Absentee ballot are available in advance at the town office on Nequasset Road during regular business hours. For more information, you can call Janice Bradford, town clerk, at 207-442-8723.