LEWISTON — Work replacing the pavement in the Scribner Boulevard neighborhood will begin next week, part of the city’s overall summer paving program.

Lewiston engineering technician Wes Enman said the city assigned the summer paving project bid to Topsham’s Harry C. Crooker & Sons. The company bid $1.17 million to reclaim and repave 15 streets in the city. That work is scheduled to begin July 16.

“If the weather stays good, we should be able to get started,” he said.

In the meantime, city crews will concentrate on repairing damage on Main Street from a July 3 storm sewer leak.

Lewiston Highway Team Manager Richard Morin said crews would be repairing a portion of Main Street between Libby Avenue and Pettingill Street on Monday or Tuesday. A storm sewer line under the road there came apart on July 3, undermining a portion of the road. Morin said changing temperatures probably helped the leak form.

“And then it washed away the sand around it, and that ultimately made it cave in,” he said.

Crews fixed the line but have not been able to repave that stretch. One lane of Main Street remains closed until they do.

Enman said crews should also finish paving two portions of Cotton Road this week.

The bulk of the city’s summer paving work begins next week. Crews will grind the existing pavement on Scribner Boulevard, Hillmount Drive and Valley Street to gravel through Friday then put down fresh pavement beginning July 23. A portion of River Street in Lewiston — from Ferry Road north about 2,400 feet — will get the same treatment.

“What we are doing is reclaiming, where we grind the pavement in place and make it into gravel,” Enman said. “We do that on bad places where the pavement has deteriorated.”

Paving work continues on 11 other streets this summer and into spring 2013. Projects, from spot paving to road rebuilding, are planned for: Old Webster, Old Greene and Pinewoods roads; Charles, Walker, Grove, Ware and Montello streets; and Campus and Brooks avenues.

staylor@sunjournal.com

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