A stretch of Stroudwater Street just before Forest Street by the high school that will be completely reclaimed this summer. Chance Viles/ American Journal
WESTBROOK— While the Stroudwater repaving project will no longer encompass the entire street, major portions are set for work starting in August.
Initially, the project was slated to be an entire reclamation of Stroudwater Street. However, the bid came back roughly $200,000 over budget, so officials reworked the scope of the project to focus on the portion from Forest Street to William Clarke Drive.
Shaw Brothers of Gorham was awarded the $431,000 bid and will begin work the first full week of August. The project initially came back to the city with an estimate in the ballpark of $800,000.
“Due to rising construction costs, we were not able to do all the work and keep it within budget,” Katherine Kelley, wastewater division manager for Public Services, said. “In order to get the worst part of the roadway done, we met with the low bidder, Shaw Brothers, and negotiated a price. … The scope was changed to a 2-inch mill and pave to make the project more affordable while still producing a higher quality road than existing.”
The project includes installing concrete curbing along the southern lane of Stroudwater Street from Highland Street to just past Forest Street.
“For those that have passed by, the section of sidewalk that was damaged when removing the granite curbing will have concrete curbing and the sidewalk fixed,” Kelley said.
The construction is expected to wrap up prior to the school year, with city officials aiming for an end date of late August.
“Stroudwater Street is being done because the roadway is badly out of shape, especially this section,” Kelley said. “The aim of the project is to try and restore some cross slope to the roadway in order to improve drainage and get rid of some of those terrible potholes.”
Half of the project is being funded by the city, with roughly $215,000 covered by the Department of Transportation.
Councilor Victor Chau, whose district includes Stroudwater, asked during a June council meeting about measures to slow down traffic, which he sees as an issue in that area.
“People tend to drive very fast on that road,” Chau said. “I was just wondering if the plan had any sort of measures to control speed.”
The plan calls for a width reduction on Stroudwater of about 2 feet, which officials believe will help mitigate speeding.
“We reduced the width to save costs as well, not just shortening the scope of the project,” Director of Public Services Eric Dudley said at the June meeting.
A cracked up portion of Stroudwater Street, just before the Forest Street line, that will see work come August. Chance Viles/ American Journal
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