Residents Get Stranded After Bridge Washes Away

The contractor who plows and helps maintain the road estimates it could cost as much as $100K to rebuild the road

Residents of Turkey Ridge Lane, a short, private road which leads to only two homes in Freeport, Maine, woke to a shocking sight Thursday morning - the bridge over Allen Brook had been completely washed away.

"We're stuck," stated Arleen Sigert-Young. "We're stuck in and out."

Sigert-Young can't use her car to get to work or run errands. Her neighbor, Beth Toothaker, was at work during the storm, and now cannot get back home.

Toothaker's daughter broke the bad news.

"She told me that the road is gone, and sent me some pictures and I almost lost it right there," admitted Toothaker. "I work a lot of hours just to get my mortgage paid, I don't have the money to replace this."

Heavy rain, more than six inches fell over a 24-hour period, combined with a clogged culvert caused water to pond upstream from the bridge. The water line, which is still visible in the trees, is nearly 15 feet higher than normal. The pressure was too much and the road gave way.

"This is my worst nightmare, absolutely my worst nightmare," said Toothaker. "I mean, building the road was a nightmare, but losing it is even worse."

The contractor who plows and helps maintain the road estimates it could cost as much as $100,000 to rebuild the road.
"We don't have this kind of money," Sigert-Young said. "No one can help us. Everybody, our insurance company, everybody says that there is no help, that we have to go about this on our own. And like she said, it is her and I."

They are hoping other property owners may have experienced a similar situation and may be able to provide them guidance to get the road rebuilt. Any one with information or ideas that is inclined to help can contact Beth via email at elizabeth.toothaker@gmail.com

For now, the two families will have to hike back and forth through the woods and across railroad tracks to get back and forth from their homes.

"We're in the mercy of everybody," said Sigert-Young. "Until this gets resolved, we can't do anything."

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