CARRABASSETT VALLEY —  About 100 people were stranded at Sugarloaf, Police Chief Scott Nichols said early Monday morning.

Two bridges that have been washed out on either side of the resort’s access road with Route 27 have left guests and employees with no way to drive away.

Nichols had to walk into his offices this morning, he said.

The only exit for mountain guests and employees was also by foot until temporary access through Brackett Brook Road can be shored up to get passenger vehicles in and out, said Emergency Management Director Tim Hardy.

Route 27 is closed indefinitely north because of a washout just north of the Sugarloaf Access Road. One bridge next to Carrabassett Valley Academy is gone and there’s a 25 yard hole about 20-feet deep taking it’s place, Nichols said.

A bridge to the Access road had washed out and there is concern about Route 27 around what is called the “S” turns. The road is leaning into the river, he said.

“It looks like a war zone up here. It’s worst than 1987 when the April 1 ice storm pounded here,” he said.

Water is raging this morning but it has gone down, Nichols said.

The area around the “S turns” on Route 27 is normally above the flow of water but yesterday that water went over the road, Nichols said.

Sugarloaf Mt. will try to get access through Sugarloaf Village through one bridge that’s on private property but it needs to be shored up first, he said.

Hardy thought the road might be in place by mid-day. He was on his way to Carrabassett to survey the damage.

Maine Department of Transportation will put in a temporary bridge on Route 27 but the road will probably be closed for most of the week, Hardy said. Traffic will have to reroute over Route 16 to Rangeley.

A bridge on Route 4 near Madrid was closed Sunday afternoon but is now open to one-lane traffic, Hardy said.

Copy the Story Link