Midcoast road reopens 5 months after it was washed out
A section of Route 235 in Waldoboro near the Warren town line reopened to traffic on Sept. 26 after a culvert washout on May 1 and continued construction delays closed it to through traffic for months.
Maine Department of Transportation spokesperson Paul Merrill confirmed the road was open and said paving and other work would continue into the next week.
“We know the timeline of this project fell short of what our customers have come to expect from us,” Merrill shared in a department statement. “We’re sorry for the extended delay and are taking steps to make sure we don’t have similar problems on future projects.”
The road was closed after a storm on April 30 and May 1 dropped between 4 and 6 inches of rainfall and led to culvert failure on Route 235, along with other roads throughout the county. A section of the state route about 350 feet north of the town line was already slated for work this summer, according to Department of Transportation work plan documents.
The contract was awarded to Bangor Lawn and Landscape of Hermon on May 18. Merrill said the contractor has done work for the state before and was selected for this project by state law that requires the department to award contracts to the lowest qualified bidder.
The department’s initial estimate for repairs in May was about 30 days.
“Our staff did have to work with the contractor to overcome challenges along the way,” the statement said.
This story appears through a media partnership with The Lincoln County News.