Preliminary design approved for Lincoln Street bridge project

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Those coming onto the western end of Lincoln Street from North Street via vehicle or on foot may not realize the road includes a bridge going over a small brook emptying into the nearby Piscataquis River. The bridge is in need of replacement, and the Dover-Foxcroft Select Board approved a preliminary design for rehabilitation from Wright Pierce Engineers during a May 29 meeting.

Wright Pierce Engineers Project Manager Jason Gallant said the bridge spans just under 17 feet and is made up of reinforced concrete slab on stone abutments. It features two-way travel lanes, angled parking on the south side, parallel parking on the north side, and partial sidewalks on both sides of the street with businesses located on each side.

Gallant said the pavement is in poor condition and there is a reoccurring sinkhole by Bob’s Hardware. He said the condition rating is 4.

“Those condition ratings are on a scale of 0-9,” Gallant said. “4 elevates it to being looked at for fixing on an annual basis.”

The Lincoln Street bridge was built in 1960. Earlier in the year U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced she helped secure  $1,455,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending for the Lincoln Street bridge project in the Fiscal Year 2024 Homeland Security appropriations bill. 

The town had sought engineering proposals at the end of 2023 and in February the select board approved a $218,400 proposal from Wright Pierce Engineers for permitting design. At the 2023 annual town meeting Town Manager Jack Clukey said a replacement project would cost close to $2 million with the town having a $200,000 share. Wright Pierce Engineers would have its work done later in the year with construction to take place in 2025.

Roadway Lead Project Engineer Owen Chaplin said the paving limits would extend about 300 feet from North Street to past the 32 Lincoln Street driveway apron. “The bridge itself will be replaced within the town right of way,” he said.

Chaplin said existing parking spaces would be restored, as would the northern sidewalk.

Bridge Lead Project Engineer Westley Munn said four options were considered and Wright Pierce Engineers is planning to go with a precast rigid frame within the existing bridge footprint with many of the bridge components being assembled offsite. This option is the least expensive and has the least impact on the existing features and provides a new substructure for most of the site.

“As part of our preliminary design we looked at the flow coming in,” Nunn said. He said the existing bridge is adequate for 50- and 100-year storm events and at the same height a replacement structure would also be. 

“We’re not going to have any overflows on Lincoln Street,” Nunn said.

“We will be detouring vehicle traffic during construction,” he said, but pedestrian access will be maintained to allow customers to visit the businesses. Temporary parking spaces will be considered and a potential staging area will be on a town-owned lot.

Gallant said Wright Pierce Engineers hope to wrap up the design work by the end of the summer, and they hope to pick up additional Congressionally Directed Spending funds in the next round.

“A lot of people aren’t even aware there is a bridge there, it’s a hidden brook,” Select Vice Chair Cindy Freeman Cyr said, saying they need to be sensitive to letting people know about the construction.

Gallant said they would like the contractor — to be selected after the finalized scope of work goes out to bid — to be able to start and finish the project all at once rather than in stages. “This should be a one-season project,” he said.

In other business, Clukey said Consolidated Communications provided an update regarding the broadband project in the Dover-Foxcroft area. The construction of line extensions will start in August and is expected to be completed in October. As service becomes available in the various areas of the project residents may subscribe at that time. This project includes certain areas of Guilford, Sangerville, Atkinson Township, and Sebec. 

“It’s a real upgrade for someone who has the current service,” Clukey said, saying the broadband will be available in town pretty much everywhere where landline phone service is possible.

Freeman Cyr said a Browns Mill park riverside stroll is planned for 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 8. She said participants can “see what the river looks like in its natural state” below a pair of dams including that by the Mayo Mill.

Mentioning a recent drive along the River Road in Sebec, Freeman Cyr said “It’s one of the most beautiful things for us to enjoy every day.”

“Let’s remember we have access to see what the river’s going to look like so we don’t have to wonder about it,” she said.

The June 11 municipal ballot includes a question and detailed explanatory note concerning the recommendation from the Mayo Mill Dam steering committee that removing the downtown Piscataquis River dam and connecting facilities and building a riverfront park is in the town’s best interests moving forward.

Reducing flooding dangers, improving the area’s ecology, including fish passage, and the availability of funding for dam removal were among the main reasons for the committee’s conclusion. The board voted in February to place a question on the June ballot pertaining to the project concerning the acceptance of grant funds as a way to gauge if residents favor the plan or not.

A 4-page, approximately 1,600-word resolution explaining in detail the issues of the dam, with historical context of the recent process and reiterating the Feb. 26 vote was approved by the select board on March 25. The June referendum question, explaining what yes and no votes mean, was also approved at the meeting following an executive session.