AUGUSTA — Maine Department of Transportation workers are doing minor repairs to the stonework along Mount Vernon Avenue after a few vehicles jumped the curb and dislodged the rocks.
Spokesman Ted Talbot said workers should complete the maintenance project, which has an estimated cost of about $40,000, by the end of this week or early next week.
“We are replacing the smaller rocks held in by wire at the base because they have been struck by vehicles, or even plows jumping the curb,” Talbot said by email. “We’ll replace them with large rocks that will have the same effect of stabilization.”
The two-year, multimillion-dollar construction project was completed in July 2016, and Talbot said this week’s work is “standard practice for this type of project.” He said the department always is evaluating the effectiveness of the work in different areas and conditions.
The project’s final phase included drainage improvements in front of the Bond Brook Mini Mall and completion of the retaining walls. In total, the project cost $4.3 million.
Some area residents and businesses were adversely affected during the two-year project because of the construction and construction vehicles, detours and decreased vehicle traffic to the busy corridor. The transportation department placed a five-year moratorium for Mount Vernon Avenue during which no excavation will be allowed except in the event of an emergency.
The work required one-way, alternating traffic with flaggers, and work was sporadic up and down the corridor, with most of the work involving the retaining walls.
As part of the paving project, which began July 13, 2015, the transportation department created a left turn onto Townsend Road from Marketplace Drive. The state looked at traffic data before and during the construction project on Mount Vernon Avenue to see if the traffic count could be low enough on Townsend Road to make the left turn permanent. Talbot said there was an overwhelming majority in favor of that decision, and the turn became permanent last July.
No major road work projects are planned for Augusta anytime soon, Talbot said.
Jason Pafundi — 621-5663
Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ
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