FARMINGTON — The Board of Selectmen plans to discuss the Maine Department of Transportation’s work on Wilton Road at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the Municipal Building.
Summit Natural Gas recently said that the company is unable to commit to putting in a gas line along Routes 2 and 4 from Jay to Farmington in 2016.
There may be no reason to wait on the state road work, so a discussion of the Maine Department of Transportation project will come back before the board, Town Manager Richard Davis said.
In August, the board favored delaying the work until 2017 to give the gas line project a chance to develop. Some board members expressed a need for lower energy costs to help economic development in Farmington.
The MDOT asked the board to consider two options: going ahead with the work in 2016 and dealing with any additional work needed after the gas lines have been installed; or delaying the road work until after the gas line work has been completed.
Normally, the MDOT holds a five-year moratorium on any road digging after it completes a project.
The delay would leave the town responsible for patching the road until the work is done.
Because Wilton Road is in an urban compact zone, the town is responsible for routine maintenance. Last spring, the Public Works Department spent about $21,000 on patch work and had a crew working there nearly every day. The heavy volume of traffic makes it difficult to get patch to stick, Davis previously told the board.
In other business, the board will also consider adopting a road closure plan for the Chester Greenwood parade on Dec. 6. The plan is a new MDOT requirement, Davis said.
The state highway department wants to know about closures lasting more than 20 minutes and the route of the closure, in case there are any planned construction activities taking place.
When people call the department about a community closing a state road for a parade or event, they are often not aware of this, he said.
Farmington police Chief Jack Peck created a traffic-control plan describing the route of the December parade, the expected duration of the road closure and other details for presentation to the board.
A similar plan will be created and adopted by the board for other events such as the July 4 parade, he said.
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