ROCKLAND, Maine — A Rockport company was the apparent low bidder Friday to rebuild a heavily-traveled, crumbling road that has been the bane of motorists for years.
Farley & Sons submitted a bid of $2.48 million, the lowest of five companies seeking to rebuild Old County Road.
City Manager James Chaousis said the bids will be analyzed and an award could be made within a couple weeks. He said work will be done later this year and take an entire construction season.
Farley submitted a base bid of $2,014,000 to rebuild Old County from the intersection of Route 17 south to Thompson Meadow Road. The company also bid $216,000 to make improvements to the Route 17 intersection and $250,000 for sewer work along the road.
In November 2014, city residents voted 2,047 to 551 to approve borrowing $1.6 million for the project. The city manager said the Maine Department of Transportation also is providing the city $1 million for the work.
Old County Road runs from Route 1 in Thomaston to Route 1 in Rockport. The city council received considerable complaints from residents about the road’s poor condition before that referendum.
A committee consisting of representatives of interested parties along the 6-mile-long road called in April 2013 for major improvements to the road, particularly with the expected increase in traffic with the opening of the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Thomaston. That store opened in October 2013.
“The current roadway is too narrow with crumbling shoulders and poor drainage. This has been on the Maine DOT work plan since the 1990s or earlier and should be included in the Old County Road rebuild,” the committee report stated.
In 2010, the Maine Department of Transportation found that 7,700 cars use the Rockland section of the road on an average day.
Also bidding on the Old County Road project on Friday were Crooker Construction of Topsham at $2,742,000, Steven A. McGee Construction of West Gardiner at $2,859,000, Sargent Corp. of Stillwater at $3,672,000 and Pike Industries of Fairfield at slightly more than $4 million.