NAPLES – The lack of vegetation and tree canopy on the Naples Causeway may provide a wide-open view of the surrounding water bodies, but some, especially on those wilting August afternoons, have seen it as a negative for summer businesses relying on foot traffic.
Relief, in the form of a newly created landscaping plan for the causeway, unveiled last Wednesday to coincide with the ongoing bridge reconstruction project, is designed to not only serve an aesthetic function but also to cool the causeway on summer days.
“We were really trying to create a park-like feel to the causeway,” said local professional landscaper Mark Clement, a member of the landscape design committee that has worked since July with Maine Department of Transportation officials to come up with the final landscaping plan. “Once the asphalt heats up, it can get pretty warm down there. So, we thought if we can get some kind of landscaping down there, it’ll go a long way in making the area more of a destination where tourists can walk from shop to shop and enjoy themselves and maybe spend the day.”
Work will begin next spring, and be completed by next fall on the landscaping. The overall project will be complete in fall 2013.
Kent Cooper, senior landscape architect for the state’s highway program, said the causeway landscaping plan will feature about 50 trees along the length of the causeway. On the business side of Route 302, the plan calls for 20-foot-tall Japanese lilac trees. Cooper says the “small-scale, very hardy” lilacs will be able to handle the harsh winters and hot summers Naples experiences.
“And they put on a good show,” Cooper added.
Larger trees like American elms, maples, birch and lindens will be placed on the Long Lake side of Route 302 in a grassy strip between the boardwalk and roadway. The trees were purposely picked because they are hardy, good looking and don’t feature low-hanging limbs, which could block the view of the water or make walking difficult.
“The committee wanted to keep the view to the lake totally open while introducing some canopy features,” Cooper said.
In addition to the tree canopy, ornamental grasses, snowball hydrangea bushes, rosa ragosa, and day lilies will provide beauty, greenery and color throughout the growing season.
“Our second focus was to find plants that look great all season long, from spring to late fall,” Clement said. “We were also looking for low-maintenance items.”
Some of the plantings will be located in a new greenspace being created in place of the long-serving swing bridge. A new fixed bridge is being built on the Long Lake side of the old bridge. The leftover space, the highlight of which will be a small amphitheater, will offer a gathering place on the causeway for all sorts of events.
Kathy Sweet, a local Realtor and member of the landscaping committee, calls the renderings “absolutely beautiful.”
She said the final design “will turn a wasteland into an oasis. It’s going to make people want to stop and look. It’s pretty fabulous.”
Barbara Clark, executive director of the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce, said the landscaping is a “part of the larger picture of reconstructing the causeway,” which will pay dividends for local businesses.
While the proposed plantings are paid for with project money, ongoing maintenance will be the responsibility of the town and/or business community. Clark said the committee is looking into strategies to pay for ongoing maintenance.
“It’s up to us, the money has to come from somewhere. That’s why fundraising is so important,” she said.
Bob Neault, chairman of the restoration committee, says the subcommittee “has done a great job coming up with a plan designed to frame the views and minimize any blockage of those views.”
He said the trees will help keep the grass that is being planted along the causeway from “burning up” and that “the plantings will complement the view.”
A plan drawn up by a subcommittee of the Naples Causeway
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