A copy of the document describing proposed bypass routes for Route 1 was expected to be delivered to the town office in Wiscasset on Wednesday, October 10, according to Town Manager Arthur Faucher.

The long-awaited document, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) will not include a recommended route, according to coordinator Carole Morris of Morris Communications.

The 200-page statement will include an in-depth analysis and projected impact for several routes, all of which begin on Route 1 near the NAPA auto parts store just south of the village, and go north of the intersection of Churchill Street and Route 1. One of the routes, which has been known as N8C, is a long bridge which leaves the Wiscasset shore near the Middle School, touches down on Goose Island, then goes to Davis Island where it rejoins Route 1. Other routes start further up the river, cross Clark's Point, and end up on the mainland in Edgecomb.

Morris sent out an E-mail this week to members of the Wiscasset Midcoast Task Force, a citizens' advisory group, saying they would receive a copy of the DEIS, but it is not to be released to the public. "This means you cannot share your copy with anyone, and that includes other town officials, family, close friends, etc.," the E-mail said. That is because the task force "is considered a part of the internal team, and not part of the public," Morris said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Faucher said he, selectman David Nichols, and Don Jones, chairman of the town's transportation committee are the three Task Force members representing Wiscasset.

Asked if anyone has raised the question of whether keeping the document from the general public is a violation of the state's Right to Know law, Morris said no one has.

But, she said, this is a federal, not a state document. Morris said the document cannot be released to the public until it has been printed in the Federal Register, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

"This is a federal document because it is a federal project," Morris said.

In her E-mail, Morris noted that the DEIS has been signed by FHWA [an abbreviation for the Federal Highway Administration, used because FHA refers to the Federal Housing Administration]. Asked the significance of this step, Morris said it means that the federal agency has accepted and approved the document as complete. Maine Department of Transportation representatives have been meeting weekly since July with FHWA representatives to make sure all the information that should be in the document is included, she said.

After the members of the Task Force have had time to study the document, and after it has been printed in the Federal Register, there will be a 60-day public comment period. After this, a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be issued, which will include a recommendation on which route should be selected.

Morris said the idea of letting Task Force members see the document first is actually intended "to broaden the public's understanding" of the statement, given the fact that the members will have time to understand the information so that they can present it to the towns they represent. The DEIS will show how the different routes affect a number of categories. The purpose of the 60-day comment period is to "see if we have missed anything."

Task Force members will meet for the first time to discuss the DEIS on Monday, October 29 at 6:30 p.m. in the Lincoln County Communications building.