Over $1 million in road work planned

    AUGUSTA – Rep. Tyler Clark (R-Easton) said that more than $1 million would go toward road and highway projects in the Easton, Fort Fairfield and Mars Hill area under the new Capital Work Plan from the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT).     “Members of the Legislature recently received copies of the Maine DOT plan, which catalogs projects scheduled for the next two years,” said Clark. “The plan encompasses work on almost 140 bridges and more than 70 miles of arterial and collector highways. This plan does not include projects being funded with federal stimulus money; it only includes projects being funded through the normal biennial budget.”
    All the projects are in a state of uncertainty at the moment, with funding still to be finalized. The Capital Work Plan is formulated based on anticipated funding, and the Maine DOT will adjust it as necessary; so all of these projects are not guaranteed. The pace of economic recovery, changes in tax revenue, and a variety of other factors will affect which projects are completed in the coming two years.
    If all anticipated funding materializes, the major project will be replacement of the bridge culvert for the Prestile Brook Bridge over Prestile Stream in Easton, budgeted at $800,000. Additional projects in the area include:
    • Strut replacement on Route 1A 0.41 miles south of the Old East Limestone Road in Fort Fairfield, budgeted at $173,000.
    • Strut replacement on Route 1A 1.05 miles north of the Bell Road in Fort Fairfield, budgeted at $148,000.