PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The highly-anticipated construction on Main Street began on Sunday At 7 p.m. work crews from Lane’s Construction set up work zones on the Chapman and Academy street end of Main Street. Their initial goal is to drop the catch basins and manholes in that area before they start milling the road.
Once milling starts, the work crews will split in two. One group will remain at the south end of Main Street; the others will begin work on the new sidewalk at the north end.
“They’ll have crews working on both ends of the job at the same time, which makes sense,” said Bob Watson, region manager at DOT. “I think it’s a good way to attack the project.”
One concern with constructing the new sidewalk was the permission needed to proceed on the land it would be built on. However this no longer poses an issue.
“Most of the sidewalk is going out into the street,” explained Chris Putnam, project superintendent for Lane Construction. “The street there is going to be narrower than it is right now.”
Work will be conducted throughout the evenings to accommodate the clientele of businesses along Main Street, as well as to prevent congested traffic. These working conditions are not new for Lane.
“Night time doesn’t bother us,” said Putnam. “We’ve done a lot of projects like that in the past.”
One topic that continues to be of concern is the weather. “The biggest thing we foresee in the future is the temperature issue; because we have to have 50 degrees and rising to pave a surface,” Putnam said.
“This summer we haven’t had very warm nights.”
The Presque Isle Police Department will be a presence the first week of construction while crews set up cones at the start of their 7 p.m. shift. In addition, special generator-powered work lights have been strategically placed along the work route.
Deputy Chief Laurie Kelly encourages pedestrians to use the crosswalks and to be aware of traffic. Drivers need to be cautious as well.
“Pay attention, they’re going to be diverting the usual lanes of travel,” Kelly advised. “There’s still going to be pedestrians, bicyclists and Amish buggies. So (drivers) are just going to have to take a little extra time to make sure they’re going slow through the construction area.”
Driving slower down Main Street is not only safe, but can save travelers money.
“Any speeding violations in construction areas are triple,” warned Kelly. “So drivers may want to keep that in mind.”
Lane Construction projects a completion date of October 16 for the Main Street project.
