People who commute through the Parsons Street corridor in Presque Isle may have to prepare to be patient on the route this summer.
In an approximately $425,000 project, the Maine Department of Transportation will be working on 1.7 miles of Parsons Street, starting from the State Street intersection and extending along the connector road to Route 1.
The Parsons Street road work, a part of MDOT’s 2017-2019 plan for Presque Isle, is a “pavement preservation project” using milling and filling of the asphalt, according to MDOT spokesman Ted Talbot.
The work will extend 1.5 inches deep from the current road surface and the existing shoulder will receive crack and fog sealing, Talbot said.
Parsons Street is one of many cracked and bumpy local roads in need of repair, and the corridor is also a major connector to the western side of Presque Isle, including the Skyway Industrial Park, where more than 600 people work at more than 40 employers. Trucks carrying lumber and other heavy equipment and materials regularly use Parsons Street to access locations in the industrial park.
Presque Isle is planning to work with MDOT to minimize the traffic impacts from this project and the six-month closure of the Centerline Road associated with the Route 1 bypass construction, said City Manager Martin Puckett.
“It’s going to alter the traffic pattern pretty severely when they’re doing both of them,” Puckett told the city councilors at their May 3 meeting.
“Some people that have big stuff might need help,” said council chair Emily Smith, referring to big rig trucks.
The project has not been contracted yet, and there is no start date set, but the work is slated to be completed by Oct. 7, Talbot said.
The Centerline Road will be closed until Oct. 31, and a number of other road projects also are in the works this summer, including on sections of McBurnie Road and Routes 161, 163 and 227.
