LINCOLN, Maine — Construction crews will begin widening a large section of West Broadway next month as part of a plan to develop business along one of the town’s longest economic arteries, officials said Tuesday.
The Town Council voted 6-0 during a special meeting Monday to approve a traffic management plan for the work, which will cover West Broadway from River Road to the Keybank branch near Hannaford Supermarket. Councilor Jeff Gifford was absent.
Workers hope to widen the road by about 5 feet on both sides to accommodate a center turning lane all the way to Hannaford while keeping traffic flowing into individual businesses, Gardner Construction Enterprises of Hermon owner Randy Gardner said.
“There is a fair amount of drainage work to be done, but I don’t foresee any problems,” Gardner said after the meeting.
Town Council member Dede Trask questioned whether West Broadway businesses would be impaired by the work.
Dual-entrance businesses will have at least one entrance functioning while the widening occurs. Contractors will start work at 4 a.m. on some portions to accommodate businesses and alert the businesses before they are due to start work on their entrances, Gardner said.
The work will cost about $1.4 million, down from the $1.8 million estimated when the job was originally planned in 2014. Gardner attributed the decrease to lower oil prices — asphalt is made with oil — and increased competition from new area paving manufacturers.
Town officials see the project as a job and business creator that will broaden Lincoln’s appeal as a service hub to the Lincoln Lakes and Katahdin regions. They said it will effectively free nearly 254 acres for business development along West Broadway while eliminating the widening costs individual businesses would pay for moving onto West Broadway.
Maine Department of Transportation officials have told town officials the road has all the traffic it can bear for its size and the number of businesses on it. An increase in traffic would be borne by the businesses that would create it, which has caused several enterprises to locate elsewhere, town officials have said.
The work will be finished by October. Twelve to 15 workers will be employed daily, Gardner said.