Route One Project - Weekly Update (8-18-15)

FALMOUTH ROUTE ONE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT

Construction Update #50 – August 18, 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, primarily involving road painting, may start at approximately 8 p.m. and continue until mid-morning on an as-needed basis.

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

If all goes well, this should be the final week of major work along the corridor until early September. As a result, this will be the final edition of this update until that time.

Mostly, crews are working on punch-list items: signage, landscaping fine touches (including re-seeding locations where the first seeding didn’t take due to lack of rain). They’re also working on paving driveway entrances, roadway and driveway painting, and fine-tuning various aspects of the electrical work (see below).

Here’s the bottom line: we’re almost done!

WORK CURRENTLY UNDERWAY:

As of Tuesday, August 18, crews were working on – or have completed – the following:

All segments of street and pedestrian lighting are now up and running.
With the exception of the Bucknam road intersection, all traffic signals are now operating on their detection loop systems. Bucknam Road is running intermittently on its loop, pending a bit of fine-tuning.
Traffic signal detection systems for bicycles haven’t yet undergone final tests, but are currently operating.
The pre-emption system, which allows emergency vehicles to change traffic signals, has been tested and is operating.
Crews are working on the end of the sidewalk by the Maine Medical Center campus.
All in-road traffic islands are now filled with loam; crews are working on cobbling driveway islands.
Driveway paving is well underway.
Most of the road striping is now in place.
The north entrance to the Foreside Tavern parking lot has been removed.

WORK YOU’RE LIKELY TO SEE THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON:

Continued paving at business entrances; as of Tuesday, there were thirteen remaining.
Continued road painting, including the painting of stop bars and directional arrows in driveway entrances.
Finishing touches on landscaping
Completion of cobbling in driveway islands
Continued installation of street signage

WORK YOU’RE LIKELY TO SEE NEXT WEEK – AND THEREAFTER:

Sargent Corporation, the General Contractor, is targeting this Friday as a completion date leading into an approximately two-week hiatus. As always, this is subject to change; for example, it’s possible that driveway painting could extend into early next week, and there may be small amounts of ‘final completion’ work by Sargent, Moulison Corporation and various subcontractors.

Things will resume during week of September 7. In the roadway, we expect to see a specialty paving contractor installing the final textured asphalt around the mid-road pedestrian islands. We also expect a lot of landscaping work, as traffic islands and biofilters are planted with an attractive assortment of shrubs and perennial flowers. All plant species designated for these areas were carefully selected for their hardiness and resistance to salt.

This work may extend into the following week, depending upon weather and other variables.

And after that? Well, we’ll be pretty much finished. There will be two more improvements which should provide minimal – if any – disruption. The first is the installation of a pair of decorative poles on both sides of Route One, near the south end of the zone (in the vicinity of Simply Home). These poles will support banners welcoming people to Route One and promoting town festivals and activities.

We’ll also modify the pedestrian signal system to incorporate a state-of-the-art audio warning system, in order to make the crossings safer for the visually-impaired.

Both of these projects are likely to occur sometime in either late September or October.

Please accept our wishes that the remainder of August – and Labor Day weekend – are safe, happy and fun for you and your family. And do visit the Route One merchants – they’d love to see you!

PHOTOGRAPHS:

We’re looking across Route One towards the entrance to the Falmouth Spur. This area was once a second entrance into the Foreside Tavern parking lot. Creating shared entrances at business sites was a principal consideration of improving traffic flow along the corridor. The shared entrance between the Tavern and Norway Savings Bank remains – with improvements.

Here are the traffic islands at the Bucknam Road intersection; you can see roadway and crosswalk painting here is complete. The traffic islands themselves have been cobbled and filled with loam; after Labor Day, these islands will be planted with attractive shrubs and perennial grasses.

Here’s a crew paving the entrance to the Irving Convenience Store. A smooth match of pavement between the roadway and parking lot surfaces is an important part of the project.

This may be the final piece of serious digging along the corridor: the end of the sidewalk on Bucknam Road, next to the entrance to the Maine Medical Center campus. It involves some rather subtle (but important!) drainage work. This should be completed within the next day or two.