CUMBERLAND — Reconstruction of nearly a mile of Route 9 (Main Street) south from the center of town, including the extension of a sidewalk and several utilities, is due to wrap up next year.

But most of the project – a 0.6-mile stretch between Turkey Lane and Prince Memorial Library at 266 Main St. – will conclude by Thanksgiving, with the piece between the library and town center to be finished next spring, Town Manager Bill Shane said Oct. 12.

“As soon as weather permits, we’ll be out there again,” Shane said.

A third of the $1.2 million project is state-funded, although Shane said the town hopes to receive more. The remainder comes from capital funds and sewer user fees.

Paving on this year’s phase began Tuesday, with the remainder of work up to the library to be done before winter. A low-pressure public sewer line – meaning that residents who connect will need a pump at their homes – will stretch the project length up to the library this year, but it will not be active until next year, when the line up to the town center is complete, Shane said.

The current phase includes extending 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.

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The Main Street sidewalk also extends northeast into North Yarmouth, to where Routes 9 and 115 meet. 

New curbing, drainage and catch basins will also be installed, as well as a paved shoulder on the western side of the road. A natural gas line will also be extended from the library south to the gully near Turkey Lane.

Next year will see sewer and drainage lines installed along the roughly 2/10-mile from the library to the town center, completing the utility network from the gully north.

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, Shane said.

The A.H. Grover project has “gone very well, but it’s just slow because of the traffic and the utilities that are going in,” he added. “We’re trying to avoid the existing water mains. … I think it’ll be a really good project once it’s finished.”

With the work area reduced to one lane, motorists are asked to find alternative routes. Southbound traffic can take Tuttle Road to U.S. Route 1, and northbound vehicles can take Middle Road in Falmouth.

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

Two-thirds of the reconstruction of Route 9 (Main Street) in Cumberland is scheduled to be complete by Thanksgiving.


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