DIXFIELD — Road and bridge projects totaling more than $28.35 million in Oxford, Franklin and Androscoggin counties are now under way.
Several more projects are still awaiting bid process completion or will be advertised later this year.
“We have got some good work going on around here and we’re doing pretty good,” Norm Haggan, Maine Department of Transportation regional manager, said Tuesday morning in Dixfield.
He was referring to projects on Routes 4 and 17 from Livermore Falls to Jay; Route 156 in Wilton and Chesterville; and the Mexico-Dixfield Webb River Bridge.
“We’ve got that one in Livermore Falls and Jay that just started up, and then we’ve got two on (Route) 156 — one end in Wilton, the other end in Farmington Falls — and this bridge here in town, so there will be quite a bit of paving going on soon,” Haggan said.
Work was to start Monday on a $6.3 million highway reconstruction project beginning at Bridge Street on Routes 4 and 17 and going north 1.1 miles to Pineau Street in Jay.
That long-awaited project, which also includes sewer and utility work, won’t be completed until Oct. 26, 2012.
Two Route 156 projects include pavement and drainage work in Chesterville and Jay, which will be completed by Sept. 17; and highway rehabilitation on the Chesterville/Farmington end. That project will be finished on June 30, 2012.
Additionally, the Jay/Wilton section of Route 156 is being reconstructed by E.L. Vining at $2,103,517. Work will be completed by June 1, 2012.
An A. J. Coleman crew is currently setting up a temporary bridge on the upstream side of the Route 2 bridge over Webb River at the Dixfield-Mexico town line.
That $2,812,122 project to replace the bridge and reconstruct the highway, will be completed by Sept. 28, 2012.
But don’t expect the last Route 2 stretch in Dixfield to be completed soon, or Route 232 in Woodstock and Rumford.
Haggan said they don’t have funding yet for either project, although it sounds like Route 232 might get some work sooner.
One Route 232 resident said recently that he’s complained about its roughness for years, but nothing ever gets done.
Haggan said MDOT is trying to find the money to get that work finished.
“We’ve tried to put some money in to do some recycled pavement there,” he said. “I think next year, we’re going to do something there.”
Up in Township D, work started late last year to move Route 17 at Height of Land up into the woods and convert the current road into a new scenic turnout.
This month, Pike Industries has been busy blasting away ledge in the $2,147,193 project to be completed by Oct. 1.
“They haven’t even scratched the surface on the blasting, but they are getting that in now,” Haggan said.
Among other MDOT projects in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties that are now or soon to be under way, are:
* Pavement work on Route 4 in Auburn; to be completed by Aug. 19.
* Traffic signals in Auburn, to be completed by June 10 at $360,817.
* Bridge deck replacement on Routes 2, 5, and 26 in Bethel, to be finished by Sept. 15 at $867,828.
* Paving work on Route 140 in Canton, with a July 29 completion date.
* Paving and drainage work on Routes 4, 16, and 27 in Eustis and Wyman Township, to be finished by Nov. 5.
* A multimodal bike/pedestrian trail in Fryeburg, to be finished Sept. 1, and replacement of the Charles River Bridge by June 15 at $938,543.
* Highway reconstruction in Lisbon at $1,369,540, with work to end by Sept. 30.
* Highway reconstruction by K&K Construction in Lisbon and Sabattus at $8,647,991, with work finished by Nov. 15.
* Pavement and safety improvement work on Route 17 in Livermore Falls to be finished by Oct. 8.
* Work on Route 119 in Minot to be finished by Sept. 10.
* Maintenance surface treatment to add half an inch of hot mix asphalt to Routes 4, 16, 17, 27, and 142 in the Rangeley area. Work on that $1.95 million project must start on July 25 and end on Sept. 16.
* Highway reconstruction and intersection improvements continue by Pratt and Sons in a $593,397 project on Route 108 in Rumford. Work will be done by July 1.
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- Work has started to construct a temporary bridge on the upstream side of the Webb River Bridge on Route 2 between Mexico and Dixfield. It will enable replacement of the old bridge a lane at a time by a Maine Department of Transportation contractor.
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- Ledge removal at Height of Land on Route 17 in Township D south of Rangeley is getting under way. The Maine Department of Transportation’s $2.14 million project calls for creating a new highway and using the old one for a scenic turnout.
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- Ledge removal on Route 17 at Height of Land in Township D is resuming by Pike Industries. The state highway project involves moving the road farther uphill and using the old road for a scenic turnout. The work is expected to be finished in the fall.
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