Vehicles move along a busy Water Street in downtown Hallowell in 2022. State officials on Monday presented its plan for reconstructing two sections of Water Street, also known as U.S. Route 201. Starting in 2026, Maine DOT will reconstruct, smoothen and consolidate stormwater drainage for just over a mile to the south of Temple Street and for about a half-mile north of Granite City Park, with the two projects separated by a quarter-mile stretch of Water Street downtown that has already been reconstructed. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

HALLOWELL — The Maine Department of Transportation presented its plan to reconstruct much of U.S. Route 201 through Hallowell during a public hearing Monday evening.

The two-part project — funded entirely by a federal grant — is comprised of a northern and southern section, separated by a quarter-mile stretch of Route 201, also called Water Street, in downtown Hallowell that has already been reconstructed. The Maine DOT will reconstruct, smoothen and consolidate stormwater drainage for Route 201 for just over a mile to the south of Temple Street and for about a half-mile north of Granite City Park.

Construction on the northern section of the project will come first, likely starting minor fixes in 2026 and major reconstruction in the summer of 2027. This section will include a new retaining wall underneath the rail bridge just north of downtown, extended shoulders and new curbs.

The DOT also plans to build a large retention pond between Water and Second streets in this northern stretch, along with a consolidated stormwater drainage system leading to the Kennebec River.

Jeff Truman, who owns property on Water Street just below where the new pond would be, said during the public hearing that he had a “lakefront” property because water pooled in his parking lot year-round. Other residents said they were concerned about ponding in and near the roadway on Water Street in the area, which they said has been inconvenient for property owners and potentially dangerous for drivers and pedestrians.

Project Manager Paul Pottle, who works for the engineering firm Stantec, said the retention pond and new stormwater drainage along the road should prevent much of the stormwater issues residents in the area have had.

“There’s that old drainage, that’s all being dug up,” Pottle said. “We’re regrading this, again, adding a new basin and tying it into the roadway system. All that water that currently gets to the road will be captured before it can get to the road.”

During the northern stretch of the project, southbound traffic will likely be diverted onto Second and Winthrop streets to avoid the construction. Construction of the retention pond and associated drainage systems may disrupt the detour on Second Street, but more definitive answers will be available in the coming weeks, Maine DOT Project Manager Ernie Martin said.

The southern section of the project, a 1.1-mile stretch south of Temple Street, will extend just past the Maine Tourism Association building. Martin said he expected most of the construction of this southern portion to take place in the summer of 2028, with final repaving to be done the following summer.

Much of the work on the southern section is aimed at regrading the road to be flatter from one edge to another. In some spots, Pottle said, this section deviates 7–8 degrees from one side of the road to the other, as opposed to the generally recommended 2 degrees.

The DOT will also install new street lights along this section to match the aesthetic of the lights downtown.

One of the primary improvements along the southern stretch is a standardized, 5-feet-wide paved shoulder. The DOT plans to designate much of the shoulder just to the south of downtown as an official bike lane.

The detour for the southern section will be much larger than the northern — while northbound traffic will continue as normal, drivers hoping to travel south on Route 201 through Hallowell will need to detour onto Winthrop Street, Middle Street, Hallowell-Litchfield Road, Smith Road and Maple Street before returning to the original roadway. The DOT plans to install lower speed limit signs with radar capabilities, notifying drivers of their speed as they pass to discourage speeding through the detour.

Traffic between Temple and Winthrop streets will remain normal during both sections of the project, but detoured traffic may impact volume on several streets downtown.

Martin said he expected the project to be complete by the middle of 2029 — with at least one construction season needed for each section.