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Route 1 Project - Weekly Update (7-21-15)

Posted on: July 22, 2015 - 11:02am

FALMOUTH ROUTE ONE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT

Construction Update #46 – July 21, 2015

The following information reflects the latest available information regarding the Route One Infrastructure Project in Falmouth. Please note that forward-looking information is based upon projections and is subject to change due to weather and other variables.

WORK HOURS:

Work in the Route One Infrastructure Project zone this week will begin at approximately 6:00 a.m. and last until approximately 4:30 p.m.  Night work involving road crossings at the south end of the project zone will also occur this week, starting at approximately 6:00 p.m. and continuing until about 7:00 a.m.

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

Take a drive along Route One, and you’ll see that C.M.P.’s removal of overhead equipment is moving along smoothly. Fairpoint’s lines are down. One section of Time Warner fiber optic cable has yet to be removed, but here’s the bottom line: you can expect to see the removal of utility poles beginning this Thursday, July 23.

Elsewhere, traffic islands are well underway and the new traffic signals at Clearwater Drive are operational, with the old cable-hung signals removed (detection loops have not yet been activated – the signals are currently operating on timers, just like the old ones). In addition to a myriad smaller projects, the primary focus for Sargent Corporation is final preparation for paving work, which is scheduled to begin during the overnight hours of next Monday or Tuesday evening.

Here’s an update on the trees: the landscapers have re-doubled efforts to ensure that plants are well and regularly watered. One Katsura has been removed and the remainder are being carefully monitored (they’re showing promising bud growth). Seven of the red maples have been removed with the remainder appearing to be okay; all of the Gingkos are doing well and the Elms are also being watched. Some pruning will be done.

The monitoring will last for the next month or so; trees that haven’t fully recovered will be removed. All re-plantings will occur next spring. As a reminder, these trees are under warranty so their replacement will not add cost to the project.

WORK CURRENTLY UNDERWAY:

As of Tuesday, July 7, crews were working on – or have completed – the following:

  • Wiring and activation of traffic signals. Clearwater Drive intersection is up and running; Depot Road signals should be operational by Wednesday 7/22. The old signals at Depot Road will be removed shortly after the new signals are active.
  • Installation of curbing for traffic and pedestrian islands.
  • Continued installation of traffic signal “loops” (which detect the presence of cars via magnetic field).
  • Four of six cable crossings at the south end of the project zone are 2/3 of the way across Route One.
  • Relocation of a fire hydrant at the entrance to the Shaw’s plaza across from Bucknam Road.
  • Shimming and prepping for final sidewalk paving.
  • More seeding and loaming (you might have noticed that the pile of topsoil in the loop near the I-95 spur is getting rather small).

WORK YOU’RE LIKELY TO SEE THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON:

  • Continued removal of obsolete overhead utilities.
  • Removal of utility poles is scheduled to begin on Thursday of this week.
  • Continued work on the crossings at the south end of the project zone. This will be overnight work; due to the traffic islands, one-way traffic will be required. Flaggers will be on site.
  • On Thursday, beginning at about 6:00 PM, a utility crossing will be excavated on Depot road near the Leavitt and Sons Deli. The work is likely to take much of the evening and will require flagger-controlled one-way traffic.
  • Moulison North will move up to the Bucknam Road intersection to begin installing signal detector loops. This work starts on Wednesday; the new signals at Bucknam should be active early next week.
  • Installation of fire hydrants at Depot Road on Wednesday and Clearwater Drive (near Ace Hardware) on Thursday.
  • Continued installation and wiring of street and pedestrian lighting.
  • Sidewalk paving prep will continue, and finish-grade paving is expected to begin on Thursday and run into next week.
  • Continued work on traffic and pedestrian islands.
  • Continued loaming and seeding.
  • Installation of a drainage inlet structure on Bucknam Road, near the Maine Medical Center entrance.

WORK YOU’RE LIKELY TO SEE NEXT WEEK:

Many of the projects listed above will continue into next week, but the primary focus will be adorning Route One with a smooth new road surface!

PHOTOGRAPHS:

Here are the new traffic signals operating at the Clearwater Drive intersection. The signals are currently on timers, like the old ones, but will soon be switched over to traffic detection loops. Note that the old signals have been removed.

The health of the shade trees along the corridor remains a top town priority. Landscape contractors are carefully watering them a minimum of four times per week during dry weather.

This is the southern-most traffic island. You’ll note the angled curbing and the cobblestones; the curbing is held in place with concrete and the curbing is bedded in a polymer sand to help it stay in place. The islands will then be filled with loam. Depending upon location, plantings – which will start this autumn – will include shrubs and ornamental grasses. This island, and also the one at the north end of the project (opposite the Foreside Tavern) will also be graced with Sargent Cherry trees.

Here we see a crew from CMP removing overhead power lines. That’s a fiber optic cable remaining on the poles; these should be removed shortly. Crews expect to start removing the utility poles this Thursday.