SABATTUS — Work starts Thursday on Ballpark Road, a major reconstruction project that will see the digging up and repaving of 1,700 feet of roadway.

Selectmen unanimously awarded the project to the low bidder on Tuesday night, according to Town Manager Andrew Gilmore. H.C. Crooker & Sons will do the work for $223,800.

The board financed the project with a $750,000 road bond through Camden National Bank. Camden was also the lowest bidder for the bond, Gilmore said, agreeing to finance payments over 10 years at 2.14 percent. Voters approved going out to bond at town meeting in June.

Gilmore said the rest of the money is earmarked for the remainder of Ballpark Road and a section of Jordan Bridge Road, King Road and Webster Corner rebuilding and repaving, and culvert work and 800 feet of paving on Marsh Road.

Public Works Director Alan LeBlanc said the Marsh Road project will replace worn-out metal culverts with a concrete "super-sized culvert" capable of standing up to a 100-year storm.

"The high flows of rainfall we've had in recent history is telling us these guys are too small, and they are filling up," LeBlanc said.

He expects the work on Ballpark Road to wrap by Nov. 1. The town will try to keep traffic to a minimum and may close the road during some hours of the day.

Public Works crews are also doing ditching and culvert work all over town. Last year the crew laid 1,200 feet of culvert and dug 8,000 feet of ditches.

"The goal is always to meet those numbers; there are so many variables with the weather," LeBlanc said.

kskelton@sunjournal.com