FARMINGDALE — Reconstruction of the southern portion of U.S. Route 201 in Farmingdale will soon be under way.

Work starts in mid-April and is scheduled to be completed by November.

J. Guy Whittington, project manager at the Maine Department of Transportation, said it will be a smaller-scale project than the 1.9-mile section of the highway that was reconstructed in 2005 and 2006.

The portion of the road to be worked on this year runs from DNK Motors to Northern Avenue — 1 1/2 miles — and will be paid for with money from the $57.8 million “jobs bond” voters approved in June 2010.

The total cost of the Farmingdale project is $6.9 million, with $6.3 million coming from the state and $600,000 from the Gardiner Water District.

Among the problems on the existing road are drainage issues and water in the gravel base, Whittington said.

Workers will remove old material and bring in new material to cover the two travel lanes. When completed, the road — a main corridor along the Kennebec River between Augusta and Gardiner — will be slightly narrower than it is now. A third lane is not warranted, as it was on the northern end of the road, because there are few businesses on the river side, where the rail trail parallels the road for about 3,000 feet, Whittington said.

In addition, workers will construct a 5-foot sidewalk from DNK Motors to Northern Avenue, which will include crosswalks and solar-operated pedestrian signals. Whittington said there has been an increase in pedestrians along the highway since the rail trail has been built.

One of the main reasons this project will move quickly, Whittington said, is because the state has chosen to have it done through the “design-build” concept. The engineering firm James W. Sewall of Old Town and construction firm Sargent Corp. of Stillwater were selected to work as a team on the entire project, with the design portion of it already in process.

In April, workers will start with water main work in the northbound lane. The underground work is expected to run through June.

There will be times, Whittington said, when there will be one-way traffic. Beginning in June, workers will install five large concrete pipes underground so brooks and streams will flow under the road, allowing fish passage upstream.

Workers will lay the gravel and pavement along the road beginning in July. At that time, construction will occur day and night, often six days a week.

To avoid construction, Farmingdale residents are expected to use some of the back roads, such as Peacock and Blaine roads, and other commuters are expected to travel Routes 27 and 9 on the east side of the river, or pick up the interstate.

Whittington said the Maine Dot Web site — www.MaineDot.gov — will provide information to the public about the construction and its progress.

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