DURHAM — Ongoing work to relocate Route 136 south of Auburn 60 feet to the west should be finished by November, and a temporary traffic light should be gone.
“Then, we’ll begin work stabilizing the slope along the river,” said Dennis Lovely, project manager for the Maine Department of Transportation. “Our goal is to have all the work done there by March.”
Lovely said the state closed a 2-mile stretch of the road to two-way traffic this summer, installing a temporary traffic light between Stackpole and Snow roads.
“There has been a slope failure there and the road was slowly slipping into the river,” Lovely said. “We noticed the road was failing and that the right-hand lane was unsafe. We put up that light to make it safe and keep people off it, and it slows down traffic. Then we quickly moved this job along to get a new road built, before we lose anything into the river.”
The road — Riverside Drive in Auburn and Royalsborough Road in Durham — has a history of erosion problems. A 120-foot chunk of pavement in Auburn fell into the river in 2008, leaving a guardrail hanging in mid-air over the river.
Repairs in 2010 were slowed in June when the road further eroded. It collapsed entirely in September, taking a crane and several utility poles with it. The DOT had to move the road 400 feet west, forcing it to move a home along the way.
Lovely said the state acted this summer before the road could get any worse. The MDOT began working Sept. 4, clearing trees and demolishing a roadside building.
“You’d be surprised how much work they’ve been able to get done, so far,” Lovely said.
The road will remain open to one-way traffic during the work. The road will be closed for one weekend in October so crews can install two large concrete culverts; traffic will be detoured around the project. Lovely said he did not know which weekend it would be closed.
View Route 136 Durham realignment in a larger map
Comments are no longer available on this story