WINSLOW — The town and the Kennebec Water District expect to replace aging utility lines this spring along a stretch of U.S. Route 201 ahead of a Maine Department of Transportation repaving project planned for this summer.
The town administers sewer work in Winslow. The water district, an independent agency, controls the water lines.
The Town Council on Feb. 9 unanimously authorized spending up to $400,000 on the project. In an interview Thursday, Town Manager Michael Heavener said project costs will be covered with surplus from the town’s sewer account and about $177,000 from a capital reserve account.
The project won’t result in increased sewer rates, and the town will maintain a sewer surplus of about $200,000, Heavener said. The new sewer lines will replace clay pipes between China Road and Gail Street that date back to at least the 1950s, he said.
Construction is expected to begin this spring in advance of the planned DOT repaving project on 2.4 miles of U.S. 201 between the Vassalboro town line and Route 137.
According to DOT spokesperson Ted Talbot, road work is scheduled to begin June 1. Contractors have three-and-a-half months to finish the project.
The sewer and water lines along that stretch of road need to be replaced before the road is repaved because DOT places a five-year moratorium on utility work after completing a road project, Heavener said.
“We recognize that this section will need work before the five-year moratorium is up, so we’d better do it now,” he said.
The Kennebec Water District plans to replace a 12-inch water line on U.S. 201 between China and Chaffee Brook roads at a cost of about $340,000, paid for with a mix of depreciation expenses and reserves, General Manager Jeffrey LaCasse said.
The district typically plans its replacement projects based on the pipe’s age, condition and proximity to road reconstruction, LaCasse said.
Bid requests for the Winslow project already have been issued, and both the town and the water district expect to begin construction in late spring.
Peter McGuire — 861-9239
pmcguire@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire
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