RUMFORD —  In February, the Maine Department of Transportation presented its $1.812 billion Work Plan for 2013, 2014 and 2015 to the Legislature.

Of that amount, an estimated $53.56 million will fund about 100 projects currently on the 2013 work plan in Androscoggin, Oxford, Franklin and Cumberland counties.

The bulk of the projects and costs are in Oxford County. Thirty-five projects from paving to bridge replacement total more than $25.3 million, according to the plan.

Rumford-Mexico area projects account for $16 million, with more than half going to replace the Martin Memorial Bridge over the Androscoggin River.That project is currently estimated at $9,311,116.

Long-awaited work on that project to replace the 57-year-old, big green truss bridge with a girder span 600 feet upriver, is expected to begin in September, Steve Bodge, MDOT Bridge Program project manager, said Tuesday afternoon.

He said the plans, specifications and an estimate should be completed by the end of the month. The project is expected to go out to bid by June 26 and be completed in the fall of 2015.

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Bodge said the project could be completed sooner, depending on the winning contractor’s timetable and if Maine has an open winter that enables work to continue through the season.

Among other Oxford County projects expected to get under way this year, are $4.16 million for 9.15 miles of highway reconstruction on Route 232 from Route 26 in Woodstock to Rumford, highway resurfacing estimated at $3.1 million for 12.2 miles of Route 25 in the Porter-Parsonsfield area, and $1.25 million for nearly 3 miles of Route 26 in Bethel near the Taylor Smith Road.

Work on the latter project starts in mid-July, Doug Coombs, MDOT Region 3 project manager, said last week. Coombs said the Route 232 project will start July 15.

Highway resurfacing work estimated at $344,000 begins in June on less than a mile of Route 2 in Dixfield from the intersection of High Street to the intersection of Hall Hill Road and Main Street.

Coombs said one $125,00 project currently on the 2013 plan that’s already been bumped to next year is a large culvert replacement on Route 120 in Roxbury 6.35 miles west of Frye Road. He said MDOT decided the span was long enough to warrant making it a bridge project instead of culvert replacement.

The 2013 plan also includes:

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* $970,000 for highway resurfacing of about 3.5 miles of Route 26 in Mechanic Falls and Oxford.

* $704,000 for maintenance surface paving of just over 14 miles on Route 120 from Rumford to Andover.

* $635,500 for maintenance surface paving of nearly 13 miles on Route 5 in Albany Township and Bethel.

* $573,000 for maintenance surface paving and traffic control measures at various locations in the Paris area.

* $463,500 to design and construct a general aviation terminal at Bethel Regional Airport, along with a $103,000 resurfacing project to include airfield markings for non-precision approach.

* $386,500 for maintenance surface paving of nearly 8 miles of Route 124 in Hebron, Minot and Buckfield.

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* $683,500 for light paving on nearly 10 miles on Route 35 and 3.69 miles on Route 37 in Waterford.

* $1.5 million for preliminary engineering highway construction work for Route 302 in Fryeburg and Bridgton.

Androscoggin County has several maintenance surface paving projects for this year totaling an estimated $1.25 million. They are in various locations in Auburn; Route 122 in Auburn and New Gloucester; Route 126 in Lewiston and Sabattus; Jackson Hill and Center Minot Hill roads in Minot; Empire and Harris Hill roads in Poland; and in Sabattus, Route 132, High, Main and Grove streets.

One highway resurfacing project estimated at $823,300, began May 20 in Livermore on Route 4 between the Livermore Falls town line and Water Hill Road, Coombs said.

Among 2013 highway reconstruction projects are:

* $5.56 million for about 1.25 miles of Route 136 in Durham starting at Davis Road.

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* $2.59 million for just over a mile of Route 26 at Brown Road in Poland.

* $1.35 million for nearly 1.5 miles of South Main Street in Auburn.

* $1 million for Pleasant Hill Road in Sabattus from Middle Road to Old Upper Stage Road.

Also included in the 2013 plan is a $1.7 million new construction project for a bicycle and pedestrian safety facility on the Paper Mill Trail that connects that trail toward downtown Lisbon.

Among the 2013 Franklin County plan projects are:

* $1.88 million for 5.18 miles of highway resurfacing on Route 4 in Sandy River Plantation from the Township E town line to Gray Road. That project starts next month, Coombs said.

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* $434,000 for maintenance surface paving on 8.68 miles of Route 41 from Vienna to Chesterville.

* $409,000 for highway construction on North Shore Drive and South Shore Road in Rangeley Plantation. Coombs said those projects start the first week in July.

* $295,652 for highway resurfacing on Bridge, Oakes and Winter streets in Farmington. That work has already been awarded to contractor Bruce A. Manzer of Anson.

* $226,000 for construction of a 12,000-gallon self-service fuel tank and $144,200 for property acquisition at Sugarloaf Regional Airport in Carrabassett Valley.

There are three different projects in New Portland in Somerset County on the 2013 plan totaling $351,810. These include drainage improvements on Route 146, painting the suspension cables on the Wire Bridge, and bridge-scour countermeasures at the Grist Mill Bridge over Lemon Stream on Route 146.

Projects in New Gloucester in Cumberland County total an estimated $747,890 and include highway resurfacing on Bald Hill Road and Route 122; and signal improvements and reconstruction of the Morse Road Railroad Crossing on the Pan Am Railways Mainline.

To find projects in a particular town go to:
http://www.maine.gov/mdot/projects/workplan/search/

Select the name of a town and hit “Go.”

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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