RUMFORD – The Maine Department of Transportation says work is scheduled to begin Monday, June 21, on improvements to 1 3/4 miles of Route 5 in Rumford.

“The project begins one-quarter mile north of the intersection of Route 5 and the East Andover Road and extends north for a mile and three-quarters,” explains Craig Nash, MDOT’s construction manager on the project.

Plans call for improvements to the shoulders of the road, installation of a pavement shim to level the road where needed, and installation of a new layer of pavement.

The project is part of an MDOT contract that includes highway improvements on Route 17 in Mexico and Roxbury and U.S. Route 2 in Rumford and Hanover.

The contract, awarded to Pike Industries of Lewiston on a bid of just over $2.6 million, calls for completion of all work by early September.

Nash urges motorists approaching the work area to slow down and proceed with caution. “It’s for their own protection as well as the protection of our workers,” he explained.