Higgins Beach took a big hit during the January storms. A town repair project includes a mix of repairing and rebuilding sidewalks and curbing. Contributed / Town of Scarborough
Work was ahead of schedule this week to repair road damage from the January storms that dealt heavy blows to the Higgins Beach neighborhood in Scarborough.
Some sidewalks and curbs on Bayview Avenue are being rebuilt while others that are salvageable will be repaired, and a concrete ramp will be reset.
Sidewalk and curb work will also be conducted on Morning, Champion and Vesper streets, along with additional repairs. A catch basin will be fixed on Morning Street, and on Vesper Street, damaged pavement will be removed and the roadway along the seawall will be repaved.
The project is estimated to cost $99,000 and be refunded by FEMA, Town Manager Tom Hall told the Leader on Tuesday.
“We had been waiting for the federal disaster declaration, which came,” Hall said. “This damage is directly related to one or both of those storms in January, which the declaration was for, so we expect there will be full reimbursement.”
The project is expected to be completed by May 24 at the latest. As of Wednesday morning, thanks to a string of good weather, work is ahead of schedule, Town Engineer Angela Blanchette said.
“The beach will not be closed during the construction project,” Blanchette wrote in an email to the Leader. “Access points along the beach, however, may be limited at certain times of the day as work progresses. There will always be multiple locations where residents are able to access the beach.”
While the project will help the Higgins area recover, more is being explored to ensure it is more resistant to future storms.
“The town has met with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and is discussing additional mitigation measures that may be permittable for the area along Bayview Avenue that is highly susceptible to further erosion,” Blanchette said. “We will be placing temporary emergency measures in the hope to work towards a permanent fix with DEP’s guidance. Any additional work in the area would most likely not begin until after the summer season.”
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