By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

Last week’s rain played serious havoc with the delicate paving schedules of Twin Cities road crews.

“Usually, by this time of year, we’re going like crazy,” said Lewiston Public Services Director Dave Jones. “But right now, we’re in a kind of holding pattern.”

Maine’s weather was in a holding pattern last week, sitting under a stubborn low pressure system that kept the area marinated in cold Atlantic rain. That weather kept road crews indoors all week.

“We didn’t even get a decent half-a-day to do anything,” said Paul Niehoff, Auburn’s pavement management technician.

Weather forecasters say the area should dry up considerably this week. But the damage has been done, as far as paving schedules are concerned.

In Lewiston, crews had hoped to finish paving Cedar Street between the South Bridge and Lisbon Street beginning Tuesday. That work may wait until later this week or next week.

In Auburn, crews had planned to finish the work on Mechanics Row alongside Auburn Hall. That work is delayed until next week or later, Niehoff said.

“Conceivably, that could have happened last week,” he said. “We have to shut the street down for a while, so we need time to warn the traveling public before we do. Given that, it just might not happen this week.”

Part of the problem has to do with the busy schedules most paving contractors keep. They schedule all around the state, working in Lewiston one week and in Augusta the next. A week’s worth of work lost to rain can ripple through the entire state, Jones said.

For example, contractors were scheduled to pave Pleasant Street last week.

“Because of all that rain, that got pushed back,” Jones said. “Now, they’re doing all the projects they’d scheduled leading up to that. And they’ll try and get caught up on all of those before they get to Pleasant Street.”

Crews can do other road-related projects in the rain, but they are limited. They can dig drains, grade places for new curbs and sidewalks and try to put down new grass seed. But even that’s limited.

“The seed and loam tend to stick together if there’s too much rain, so even that has to wait,” Niehoff said.

In Lewiston, crews relied on wintertime cold asphalt to cut down on potholes.

“We just are trying to make do with what we’ve got until we can get out and make actual repairs,” Jones said.