WOODSTOCK — Part of an $11 million federal grant for what is billed the Western Gateways Project will go toward making improvements on Route 26 through Bryant Pond, Woodstock selectmen learned last week.
Sen. Susan Collins office made the announcement, which highlighted a total of $26.6 million in federal “BUILD” transportation grant funds that will come to Maine.
According to the release, the Maine Department of Transportation will receive $11 million for a $22 million project “to repair, resurface, improve drainage, and enhance pedestrian safety to a network of three key roadways in three rural towns: Kingfield, Woodstock and Fryeburg. MDOT will increase the safety of these roads for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians and provide access to rural retail, commerce, employment centers, shipping routes, and recreation points critical to the economy. The proposal will meet ADA and MDOT’s standards for sidewalk, crossing and bike lane safety.”
Woodstock Town Manager Vern Maxfield said he expects the work to stretch from near the bottom of Merrifield Hill to the Greenwood town line, a distance of just under a mile.
He said he did not yet have any more details on the components of the project or when it would happen.
Maxfield noted that MDOT has completed improvements on Route 26 from Paris to Bethel, except for the Bryant Pond section.
Town officials have in the past discussed the possibility of a bypass for Bryant Pond, but this project would not address that, he said.
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