BELGRADE — All eyes were on senior project manager Ernie Martin on Tuesday night at a selectmen’s meeting as he outlined the schedule for the state reconstruction of Main Street where it runs through Belgrade Lakes village.
The approximately half-mile of road is scheduled for rebuilding beginning early next spring, and the residents and business owners have been adamant that the work be put on hiatus between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The Belgrade Lakes region attracts thousands of tourists in the summer, and business owners fear any disruption will do lasting harm.
The state Department of Transportation plan calls for limited work to be done from April 9 to June 22, 2018, which would be tree clearing and utility relocations, Martin said.
Martin’s schedule shows a cessation of work from June 23 to Sept. 3, 2018. Otherwise, alternating one-way traffic will be maintained throughout the work.
Route 27 is a main travel route between Farmington and Augusta.
The next step, Martin said, would be an open house hosted by the contractor on Sept. 4, 2018, to detail specifically where construction would begin.
“The key is the meeting the day after Labor Day,” Martin said.
Work then would restart Sept. 5, 2018. The proposed schedule calls for workdays from sunrise to sunset Monday through Thursday and until 3 p.m. Friday. No work would be performed on Saturday, Sunday or holidays. Construction completion is scheduled for June 21, 2019.
Martin said no detours would be posted.
Selectman Michael Barrett asked whether the state would be reconstructing a portion of Route 8 in Belgrade at the same time. Martin said it would, and that was one of the reasons it there would not be a posted detour for the Main Street work. “When we come to town, we come to town,” he said.
That almost 3-mile road rehabilitation project, estimated to cost $5.8 million, is scheduled to be advertised Dec. 27, 2017, according to the department’s website.
Gary Mahler, chairman of the selectmen, told Martin, “We appreciate the information that you’ve been pretty good about putting out to the citizens of Belgrade,”
The Main Street reconstruction — estimated at $2.5 million — will be put out to bid Feb. 14, 2018, Martin said on Tuesday.
The project has been envisioned for some time, and in March voters agreed to accept about $500,000 from the Friends of Belgrade Lakes Village. The money is to be used to upgrade the sidewalks and lighting proposed in the project.
Diane Oliver, an owner of Day’s Store and a member of the board of directors of the Friends group, noted previously that the initial money raised through grants, foundations and pledges “is phase one of a $1.5 million campaign that also includes an off-street parking lot and public restrooms.”
The group has said contributions came from “generous summer residents as well as year-round residents, not only from Belgrade, but from surrounding communities like Rome and Oakland.”
The road reconstruction will leave the village with 55 clearly marked parking spaces — 29 on the east side and 26 on the west. Currently there are no marked parking spaces.
Martin said Tuesday that the employees in the Department of Transportation’s Right of Way Division are working with residents now that the final mapping has been done.
In other business, the board welcomed Lily Schubert as the new director of the town’s Recreation Department. She is the daughter of former director Valencia Schubert.
The board also agreed to set up an ad hoc communications committee at the request of Regina Coppens.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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