A pile of extra temporary pavement sits off a public easement in Casco. The Route 11 road construction project should wind up either at the end of this week or sometime next week; however, there are some portions of Route 11 that will be surface-paved next spring. (De Busk Photo)

By Dawn De Busk
Staff Writer
CASCO — The road construction crew on Route 11 is doing what many Mainers know all too well.
The crew is buttoning up for winter.
The surface paving was not entirely finished after the contractor ran into adverse weather during this road construction season.
According to Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) Project Engineer Tim Storer, the surface paving was not completed on approximately five miles of the 10.2-mile road repair project.
The sections of Route 11 that did not receive surface paving are the same areas that were not scheduled for reclamation. Only the worst pavement along Route 11, also known as Poland Springs Road, went through the reclamation process; and those areas received surface pavement, he said.
“There is no need for them to redo anything that they put down — just areas to complete next year,” he said.
“What we are doing now is putting down temporary pavement on side roads. They will put temporary mix on those to keep them plowable,” he said.
“All work should be buttoned up there by the end of this week or sometime next week,” Storer said.
According to MDOT regulations, the deadline to pave major roads is the Saturday after Oct. 15. The contractor on the project, White Brothers Division of Lane Construction, ran out of good weather.
The MDOT headquarters in Augusta gave Lane Construction the okay to pave during the week after Saturday, Oct. 18. However, several days of rain put the kibosh on that plan.
“They were given a week’s extension. But, it rained that week,” he said.