LIVERMORE FALLS — Big changes are coming to the downtown in 2025 with the reconstruction of a 1.1 mile stretch of state Route 17.

More than 30 people attended a public hearing on the $10 million project Thursday at the Town Office.

Construction will be paid by federal and state money, and a $6 million federal discretionary grant, Ernest Martin, senior project manager from the Maine Department of Transportation, said. Work is expected  to start in October 2025 and be completed two years later.

It will begin at the intersection of state Route 17, which blends with state Route 133, known locally as Shuy Corner. It will affect streets, including Park, Depot, Main, Pleasant and Church.

The changes are required to meet federal highway safety standards. Roughly 20 on-street parking spaces will be eliminated, along with some crosswalks, and a turning lane on Depot Street, near Ware-Butler, Martin said.

On-street parking will be eliminated on a section of Church Street, Martin said.

Removing parking spaces is necessary to accommodate the requirements from entrances and crosswalks and to shift the road to accommodate trucks turning, he said.

“DOT’s priority is to make highways safer,” Martin said, and to make it safer for pedestrians.

Property and business owner Kenny Jacques said he will lose all three parking spaces in front of his property at 42 Main St. and will have no parking.

“We’re losing a lot of parking,” he said.

There are 47 on-street parking spaces, Bill Nichols, Livermore Falls Public Works foreman, said.

The state is talking with the owners of Stretch-It, an auto body shop at 40 Depot St., to purchase and relocate it.

The island on Depot Street to upper Depot Street, crossing Route 133, will be eliminated and the road reconstructed to improve travel.

Drainage improvements will be made, said Tim Higginson of WSP, an engineering and architecture consultant firm with offices worldwide, including Maine. He displayed a map of the roads involved.

There will be two travel lanes ranging from 11 to 12 feet wide with 5-foot shoulders and 5 to 5.5-foot sidewalks, Higginson said.

The road will be widened at the Chuck Wagon Restaurant corner so larger trucks don’t have to yield to oncoming traffic.

All but one utility pole on the sidewalks will be moved.

All crosswalks will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act accessible and have pedestrian-activated lights. The crosswalk from the area of the Town Office to the Chuck Wagon Restaurant will be eliminated, Higginson said.

Also, new sewer and water lines will be installed for an estimated $5 million.

Jay/Livermore Falls Sewer Superintendent Mark Holt said the town needs $3 million for the sewer improvements and has applied for federal funding.

Property owners along the route can contact Martin at 207-624-3381 or ernest.martin@maine.gov or Brian Sanderson, senior property officer 207-624-3544 or brian.r.sanderson@maine.gov to learns if their property will be affected.

Norma Jackman, director of transportation for Regional School Unit 73, said she has 70 students in the area of construction.

Martin said that they will work together on it.

The next step is get the final design of the project.

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