CARIBOU, Maine — Caribou residents driving on High Street, one of the city’s busiest roadways, will notice construction crews and workers guiding traffic as the road is being reconstructed this summer.
Caribou Public Works Director Dave Ouellette said during a Jan. 28 City Council meeting that this project has been a “constant topic of discussion” for the entire 21 years he has spent as a part of the department.
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- Construction crews with the Maine Department of Transportation work on reconstructing the storm drains on High Street as flaggers guide traffic at the roadway’s Main Street intersection. (Chris Bouchard)
It was also during this meeting that councilors voted to approve the project, with the first component being repairs to the storm drain system and the second part consisting of repaving, the addition of a new sidewalk on the north side of the road, and the installation of ADA-compliant ramps in the sidewalks.
The $500,000 storm drain repairs are funded completely by the Maine DOT while the second aspect of the work will cost approximately $190,085, with DOT funding half and the city paying for the remaining $95,000.
Dennis Marker, Caribou city manager, also indicated that since this money was set aside already when councilors created this year’s budget in 2018, the repairs will not affect this year’s expense budget.
The council later unanimously voted to award the city’s portion of the project to Trombley Industries, which was also the low bidder for MDOT’s portion of the project contingent on MDOT awarding Trombley the state’s portion of the project.
According to Marker, the contract for the first portion of the project will end in mid-July, at which point Caribou’s crews will begin working on their part of the construction.
