South Rumford Road to fully reopen by Oct. 23

Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

Heavy equipment was parked beside a rebuilt section of South Rumford Road four miles west of the road's intersection with Route 2, on Thursday afternoon. Two miles of the road and a bridge were washed out by flash-flooding caused by torrential rains on June 27, necessitating a $500,000 repair job by a state transportation crew.

Buy a print

- Terry Karkos/Sun Journal

RUMFORD — Nearly four months after large areas of South Rumford Road and its Thurston Bridge were wiped out by torrential rains on June 27, the road will fully reopen by Friday, Oct. 23.

According to Maine Department of Transportation spokesman Mark Latti in Augusta, the road that parallels Route 2 on the south side of the Androscoggin River, is now open to traffic from 3:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.

Since Oct. 2, only one lane of alternating, one-way traffic regulated by signal lights has been open while crews finish repairs to the remainder of the road, Latti said Thursday.

Large sections of South Rumford Road were wiped out by flash-flooding from an unnamed brook four miles west of the road's intersection with Route 2 atop Falls Hill.

“We're now rebuilding two miles of the road where there were a lot of washouts, to get it up to the existing grade” of the undamaged road section, Latti said. Then, it will be repaved.

He said the overall project, which included installation of a new steel-pipe arch bridge measuring 10 feet by 14 feet by 67 feet, cost $500,0000.

Latti said roadwork repairs are expected to take three weeks before both lanes can be reopened.

Until then, construction crews must close the road during the day between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Signs on either end allow local traffic to enter during this time, but only up to the affected area, not through it.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com