Public hearing Aug. 6 on Route 150 reconstruction

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    GUILFORD — There’s good news on the horizon for residents and travelers who have endured pothole-ridden Route 150 (South Main Street) in Guilford for the past few years.
    On Wednesday, Aug. 6 there will be a public hearing at the Guilford fire station meeting room to solicit comment on the Maine Department of Transportation’s plans to rebuild South Main Street from downtown Guilford to the CMP substation in Parkman.

Observer photo/Mike Lange

    ROUGH RIDING — Pictured is a portion of Route 150 (South Main Street) in Guilford that’s due to be repaved.

    “All abutters should receive written notices and all citizens are welcome to attend,” said Town Manager Tom Goulette.
    The $785,000 project is part of the MDOT’s already-approved work plan and it’s tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2015, Goulette said. This is also within the time frame that the Memorial Bridge is scheduled to have its deck replaced.
    MDOT officials held a public hearing on June 24 on the $1.5 million bridge project. The major question raised at that time was whether the state was going to close the bridge completely or shut down one lane at a time.
    Goulette and MDOT Project Engineer Steve Bodge said that due to the traffic on the bridge, it’s more feasible to stretch the work out longer and close one lane at a time. Goulette also pushed to have the work completed before 2016, the year Guilford celebrates its bicentennial, and planners seemed to be receptive to the idea.
    “We need the bridge work and we need the road work, so hopefully these will both continue as scheduled,” Goulette posted on the town’s Facebook page.
    Route 150 is a major route for logging trucks bringing their products from Piscataquis County to the Maine Woods Pellet Company in Athens and the Sappi Fine Paper mill in Skowhegan.
    MDOT is currently repaving a 3.35-mile stretch of Route 150 between the Wellington Road and Parkman and more work is scheduled between Cambridge and Parkman in the 2015-16 fiscal year.
    Residents and other interested parties who can’t attend the meeting may email their comments to Project Manager Shawn Davis at Shawn.R.Davis@maine.gov.