The Bridge Street Dam came out of the Royal River this summer. The East Elm Street Dam, upstream at the top of Royal River Park, is still there. Its removal is planned for summer 2027. Until then, the corridor from East Elm Street down to Sparhawk Mill is a river with one dam gone and one left. This winter is the only season it will look this way.
That makes the walk worth a second look, even if you've done it a hundred times. The lower river has started acting like a river again. The upper river is still a six-mile impoundment held back by a dam. And the renovated park between them finished its first season just as the construction downstream reached its final weeks.
What Came Out at Bridge Street, and What's Still Fenced
Work started on July 22, 2026. Linkel Environmental Construction is doing the work for the Town of Yarmouth and its partner, American Rivers. The scope covered three structures: the dam, the concrete fishway, and the penstock, the big pipe that once carried water to Sparhawk Mill. On August 20, day 22 of the project, the Royal River Alliance reported that the dam had been breached and water was flowing through the opening.
The Portland Press Herald reported in July that the dam, fishway, and penstock were expected to be gone by the end of September. Weather and the job itself pushed it later. Rain stopped work on September 28 and again on October 13, and the town's logs say plainly that they paused for safety. In the September 21 to 25 update, the last piece of penstock still left was the section under the bridge.
The work now is mostly rebuilding the riverbank. The town's Royal River Restoration Project page posts weekly logs, and the October 12 to 16 entry covers the new retaining wall on river left. Crews were pouring footers, setting precast blocks, and tying the old granite wall into the new system. By October 15, three tiers of block were up on the downstream section. The town estimated the wall was about two weeks from done, followed by about a week of regrading, seeding, and cleanup. The permanent fence could slip to spring if a subcontractor isn't available. Until it goes in, the construction fencing stays.
The town paid for all this with grants and private donations, not property taxes. That includes a $1 million grant from the Maine Natural Resources Conservation Program plus money from the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, The Nature Conservancy, and other foundations and donors. On October 9, the Royal River Conservation Trust and its partners held a celebration at Sparhawk Mill to thank the Linkel crew.
The Park Upstream Finished First
Royal River Park was rebuilt over the same summer. It closed the week of June 1, and Yarmouth Community Services says on its renovation page that the main pieces were done by the end of the day on September 15. That included pathways, garden beds, parking lots, lights, and a new sign. Over the next few weeks came a drinking and pet fountain donated by the Yarmouth Lions Club, new bike racks, and six trees and shrubs that volunteers helped plant. The old cistern footbridge was removed during construction.
Fall brought a few more closures. Starting October 14, the contractor repaired sections of the pathway so they would meet accessibility standards, and Central Maine Power came to connect the new lights. Rain on October 16 stopped the paving with the path already dug up, and the town said it would stay closed until Monday night, October 19. Once CMP's inspections are done, the lights will run from dusk until 11 p.m. at the latest. Spring 2027 brings kiosks, more wetland plantings, and more trees. The park's Memorial Tree Program is also open now if you'd like to plant a tree as a lasting gift.
Since closures have changed week to week this fall, check the Community Services page before heading out.
Walking It Top to Bottom This Week
The town describes the main route as running from East Elm Street down to Bridge Street. Here's what's at each stop right now:
- Royal River Park entrance, 103 East Elm Street. The main lot is across the street from the Yarmouth History Center at 118 East Elm Street. The East Elm Street Dam is still standing here. Flat water upstream of this point is the impoundment that next summer's removal would lower.
- The fields and the Third Falls overlook. The path runs past open fields to the overlook and then through the old mill ruins and woods.
- The Beth Condon Pathway and pedestrian bridge. This is where engineers expect the most visible change. A 2010 Stantec study, cited in the Royal River Alliance's FAQ, predicted that taking out the Bridge Street Dam would expose a submerged waterfall, or "tumble," upstream of the walking bridge. A separate pool would form above it and reach to the base of Third Falls. The reflecting pool would stay, but shallower and narrower. On October 7, the Royal River Conservation Trust ran a cleanup in the shallow stretch under the pathway and the Route 1 overpass, pulling debris and invasive plants.
- Under Route 1 to Bridge Street. The bridge has a Chronolog photo stand. You set your phone in the cradle, take the same upstream shot everyone else does, and it goes into a crowd-sourced time-lapse. By October, 66 people had contributed 136 photos going back to May. Bridge Street is a narrow two-lane road with almost no shoulder, so watch for cars at the stand.
- Second Falls and Sparhawk Mill. On river right near the pump station, the Yarmouth Arts Alliance and the Linkel crew mounted historic sluice-gate gears during the first week of October. They're the first permanent piece of the new riverbank and the first to tie it back to the river's mill history.
The Calendar Between Now and the Second Dam
| When | What | Status |
|---|---|---|
| July 22, 2026 | Bridge Street Dam removal begins | Done |
| August 20, 2026 | Dam breached, water flows through | Done |
| September 15, 2026 | Royal River Park main renovation finished | Done |
| Mid-October 2026 | Retaining wall about two weeks out, then roughly a week of seeding and cleanup | Underway |
| Spring 2027 | Park kiosks, wetland plantings, trees; possibly the permanent Bridge Street fence | Planned |
| Summer 2027 | East Elm Street Dam and fishway removal | Planned, fundraising |
What Changes When the Second Dam Comes Out
The East Elm Street Dam is the bigger change, and the town says it still needs more fundraising. The same goes for adaptive management work at Middle Falls. The Alliance's FAQ says removing it would drop the water in the six-mile impoundment behind it by about 5.6 feet. In its words, the river would "look and act more like a river." The canoe put-in at the Yarmouth History Center would have to move upstream, because the water there would be flowing toward a cascade.
The same FAQ lists the wildlife that follows migrating fish: eagles, osprey, heron, cormorants, river otters, and kingfishers. It also says that taking out Bridge Street on its own should improve fishing along the pathway up to the Elm Street dam.
Don't expect the fish all at once. The restoration aims to open the river to alewives, blueback herring, American shad, sea-run trout, and American eel, but the Alliance says each species may come back at a different pace. A May 2026 monitoring framework from the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership says some returning fish may not show up for a few years. The plan relies on environmental DNA sampling and fish surveys at seven freshwater sites, sampling in the estuary, water-temperature and water-quality tracking, and cameras that record fish. The monitoring plan from Maine's Department of Marine Resources called for stocking blueback herring in late May and considers alewife stocking at Runaround Pond later.
If East Elm Street comes out on schedule in summer 2027, this winter is the only one the river will spend with the Bridge Street Dam gone and the upstream impoundment still in place. Photos taken at the Chronolog stand on Bridge Street between now and then go into the same public time-lapse that has tracked the site since May.
A walk this familiar is the kind of local detail we pay attention to at The Lauren Jones Team. We follow how projects like this change daily life around a house as closely as we follow the house itself. If you live near the Royal River and wonder how this year's work shows up in what your home is worth, start with a conversation and Get Your Home Valuation.
