CUMBERLAND — Reconstruction of nearly a mile of Route 9 (Main Street) south from the center of town, a project that began last year, is due to conclude by July.

The piece of the corridor between the intersection of Tuttle and Blanchard roads, south to Wyman Way, will be closed to through traffic from Monday, April 22, to Friday, May 3. The weekday-only closures will run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a detour map is to be posted at cumberlandmaine.com next week.

Residents who live in the closure area, and patrons of Prince Memorial Library, will only be able to access both from the south. The Cumberland Congregational Church parking lot will be accessible from the Tuttle and Blanchard road intersection.

The $1.2 million effort remains on budget. The state was funding a third as of October 2018 through its Municipal Partnership Initiative but is now paying $500,000, Town Manager Bill Shane said last week. The remainder comes from capital funds and sewer user fees.

Most of the project scope – a 0.6-mile stretch between Turkey Lane and Prince Memorial Library at 266 Main St. – concluded by last Thanksgiving, with the piece between the library and town center to be finished this year. Several utilities are being extended, along with a sidewalk that now ends by the library.

The project will conclude with a final coat of pavement along the full stretch.

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A low-pressure public sewer line – meaning that residents who connect will require a pump at their homes – was installed up to the library last year, but will not be active until this year, when the line up to the town center is complete.

One project element delayed from last year is the extension of approximately 1,000 feet of sidewalk on the east side of the street from the library south to Wyman Way. That connection will complete a 2-mile sidewalk loop – from Main Street’s intersection with Tuttle Road south to Wyman Way, east across Wyman Way and Drowne Road, and northwest along Tuttle Road back to Main Street.

The Main Street sidewalk also extends northeast into North Yarmouth, up to the site of the former North Yarmouth Memorial School and future Wescustogo Hall and Community Center.

New curbing, drainage and catch basins are also being installed, along with a paved shoulder on the western side of the road. A natural gas line has also been extended from the library south to the gully near Turkey Lane.

Sewer and drainage lines are being installed this spring along roughly 2/10 of a mile from the library to the town center, completing the utility network from the gully north.

Given the fact that Route 9 carries more than 7,000 vehicles a day through Cumberland – and is the town’s second-busiest road, behind U.S. Route 1 – measures will be needed to mitigate traffic backups.

“We’re going to have to look at probably detouring some traffic as we get closer to the (Main Street/Tuttle Road/Blanchard Road) intersection, because it becomes very congested there,” Shane said.

“We’ll be back up and operating to … mostly full capacity by summer,” he noted. “… If all goes well, we should be done by July 1.”

Alex Lear can be reached at 780-9085 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

Reconstruction of nearly a mile of Route 9 (Main Street) in Cumberland south from the center of town is due to conclude by July.A project element delayed from last year is the extension of approximately 1,000 feet of sidewalk on the east side of Main Street in Cumberland from Prince Memorial Library south to Wyman Way.


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