Woolwich’s longtime road commissioner, Jack Shaw, wants the state to consider reimbursing the town for winter plowing and sanding of Routes 127 and 128.

“You never know what kind of winter weather you’ll get – snow, freezing rain, or this year a combination of the two,” he said from his office at Jack A. Shaw & Sons, Inc. off Walker Road.

It would help if the legislature increased yearly funds it provides cities and towns through its Local Road Assistance Program (LRAP), he said. Woolwich matches the funding with tax dollars.

Shaw said people are often surprised to learn Woolwich is responsible for plowing and sanding Routes 127 and 128. Both are state roads.

“The state plows and sands Route 1 from the Bath bridge to Wiscasset and leaves Routes 127 and 128 for us to take care of following a winter storm. We don’t receive any reimbursement for this from the state no matter how much time we spend plowing, sanding or salting these roads,” he added.

Shaw has been responsible for maintaining Woolwich’s roads for the last 35 years. "Nothing road-related is getting any cheaper. It’s getting more expensive every year for communities from Kittery to Fort Kent to keep up with repairs needed to their roads,” said Shaw.

Woolwich has 62 miles of roads; all but 14 miles are town-owned, he added. This year, Woolwich will receive $62,208 in LRAP funding – $556 less than 2018-2019.

According to Maine.gov, LRAP funding fluctuates depending on the annual highway budget. “If highway fund revenues are up, then the total allocation will increase and vice versa,” it states. In fiscal year 2014 when state highway revenues were higher, Woolwich received $66,980. Funding is based on the same “rate per lane-mile” formula as stated in the law; the statutory rate for rural local roads is $600 per lane-mile.

Shaw said LRAP funds can be used for general road repair and paving. “We’ve been using the money for snow removal and applying whatever’s left for paving and other road maintenance. How much remains depends on what kind of winter we’ve had.”

This winter, icing of roads has been a bigger problem than snow requiring more sand and salt.

To Maine Department of Transportation's credit, he added, MDOT foots the bill for paving, repairs, maintenance and signage on Routes 1, 127 and 128. Route 128 was repaved last year.

“Obviously, the community would benefit if they’d pick up all or at least some of the cost of the winter maintenance for their roads,” said Shaw.

On another matter, Shaw said newly proposed legislation could impact the annual spring posting of roads.

LD 261, An Act to Restrict the Authority for Posting of Road would lessen a municipality’s responsibility for placing weight restrictions over publicly maintained local roads. The bill’s proponents argue roads are being posted early and that weight restrictions are kept in effect too long creating financial hardship for some businesses.

Shaw brought the issue to the Woolwich select board’s attention Feb. 19. Details of the proposed change were recently outlined in Maine Municipal Association’s Legislative Bulletin. Both MMA and MDOT favor towns retaining authority over road postings.

Shaw plans to attend a second stakeholders meeting on the bill.