There's bound to be some serious disagreements at the next two meetings of the Midcoast Bypass Task Force, as interchanges on Routes 218 and Route 27 are discussed.

The first meeting is Thursday, March 6 and the second is Thursday, March 20, both starting at 6:30 p.m. at the county's communication center next to the courthouse in Wiscasset.

Although Wiscasset selectmen went on record in December of 2007 as wanting full interchanges on both routes, Alna town officials have vigorously opposed an interchange on 218 (Federal Street) because they believe access to the Route 1 bypass will promote sprawl in their small town of just over 600 residents. The selectmen made their wishes known to the state in a December 17 letter to Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner David Cole.

Proposed bypass routes shown in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which the task force is reviewing, do not show an interchange on Route 218, and show an interchange on Route 27 in only one direction.

In addition to making the town's wishes known, the purpose of the selectmen's letter was to ask the state to help pay for a consultant to investigate how the town's wish for a longer bypass, starting at Route 144 and going north of the high school, could be implemented. However, Town Manager Arthur Faucher said this week he met with Commissioner Cole soon after the letter was sent and was told the state has no money for a consultant to do this.

The selectmen said in their letter that none of the proposed bypass routes are acceptable to the town because they pass too close to the village. The selectmen also voiced their concern about the number of houses and businesses that would be displaced by the proposed routes.

Task force meetings are open to the public. Task force members include, from Wiscasset, David Nichols, Arthur Faucher, and Don Jones; from Edgecomb, Jo Cameron, Amanda Russell and Barry Johnson; Lincoln County Planner Bob Faunce; Douglas Baston, Alna; Lee Straw, Newcastle; David King, Woolwich; David Bertran, Westport Island; Ross Edwards, Boothbay; Tom Woodin, Boothbay Harbor; Jamie Logan, Boothbay Harbor Chamber; Leah Sprague, Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association; Don Hudson, Chewonki Foundation; Norma Dreyfus, Friends of Coastal Preservation; Dale Doughty and Ed Hanscom, MDOT; and Peter Kleskovic, Federal Highway Administration.