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

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.