How to Avoid Wiscasset, Maine When Driving to Acadia National Park and Other Midcoast and Down East Destinations
Wiscasset proudly bills itself as Maine’s most charming little village, but anyone who’s tried traveling down the coast between May and October knows it is a traffic-jam hell hole. The flow of traffic is disrupted, sometimes for miles, as morons cross Route 1 to get a taste of the immensely over-rated Red’s Eats and its run-of-the-mill lobster rolls. Wiscasset will be even worse beginning in the 2020 season, as two new traffic lights have been installed to further slow traffic for miles and miles.
“You can avoid Wiscasset entirely without adding any extra time to your trip.”
But there’s some good news: you can avoid Wiscasset entirely without adding any extra time to your trip. Is it some kind of beautiful dream? No. It’s a reality made possible by the existence of Augusta, a town with little in the way of charm but wholly free of slack-jawed New Yorkers standing in line to pay $19 for a plain lobster meat sandwich on a Nissen roll.
If you’re traveling from the border of Maine to points east of Rockland, all you need to do is avoid the Brunswick and Topsham exits and keep driving towards Augusta. It seems counter-intuitive, but the drive up to Augusta and then down 17 to Rockland only adds about 15 miles to the trip. If you’re observing the speed limits, that’s only about 10 more minutes. However, if you add in the miles of backed up traffic through Wiscasset, it saves you between 2–72 hours (depending on how busy Red’s is that day).
“Avoiding Wiscasset isn’t just good for your journey; it’s good for Gaia, our precious Earth mother.”
Sitting in traffic waiting to pass through Wiscasset is a tremendous environmental nightmare. All those cars and trucks, sitting idly for all that time, contribute massively to climate change. Avoiding Wiscasset isn’t just good for your journey; it’s good for Gaia, our precious Earth mother.
The only other solution is to somehow get the word out there are other places on the coast of Maine to get a lobster roll, but that one is much harder. Do everyone a favor next time you travel the midcoast of Maine: go up the 295 to Augusta and down the 17 to Rockland. You will get there much faster and without the anger and frustration exhibited by everyone who’s dealt with the clusterfuck that is Route 1 Wiscasset, Maine. Remember, Wiscasset puts the “ass” in Maine.
