By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — The road repair and paving RFP’s for Casco are revving to go.

The Casco Select Board has spent multiple meetings discussing the two road-repair options presented by Gorrill Palmer.

Last week, the board gave the go-ahead for the Casco town manager to release the Referral for Proposals (RFPs) for the FY 24-25 road projects.

After an overview was provided, Select Board Member Robert MacDonald spoke.

“Go with option one. From everything I heard Stone Road is in poor condition. We are close to losing it. If we continue to lose roads, we aren’t making any headway,” he said.

“It is seven roads no matter what that we need to do,” MacDonald added.

Board member Eugene Connolly weighed in.

“We knew this was going to be expensive because we neglected it for so long,” Connolly said.

He preferred option one, he said. 

The other two board members expressed their preference by voting, 4-0, for option one.

These are the rehabilitation projects included in the option favored by the select board:

• Glen Drive, from Quaker Ridge Road to New Road — Reclaim and repave 3” deep on 1,690 linear feet (LF) of roadway, ditching improvements

• Quaker Ridge Road, from Glen Drive to Brown Avenue — 1-1/2” shim/overlay on 1,970 LF of road, ditching improvements

• Moose Run, from Sunny Hill Road to dead end — Surface pave 1” along 766 LF.

• Sunny Hill Road, Route 302— Surface pave 1” for 1,200 LF.

• New Road, from Libby Road to Glen Drive — Surface pave 1” for 1,109 LF.

• South Casco Village Road, from Route 302 (across Lakewood Road) to Quaker Ridge Road — Surface pave 1” for 1,000

• Stone Road, from Route 11 to end of pavement — Reclaim and repave 3” along 1,200 LF, ditching improvements.

Prior to the vote, Casco Town Manager Anthony “Tony” Ward provided an answer to a question that had been brought up during the previous meeting. On Jan. 9, Selectman Grant Plummer had asked about the longevity of a paving process that costs more than reclamation. Does spending more money mean the road will last longer, he had asked.

“During the select board’s last meeting, a member inquired why we did not completely reconstruct roads similar to Poland. I discussed the differences between reclaim and paving compared to reconstructing roadways,” Ward said. 

“Gorrill Palmer advised that the vast majority of municipalities utilize reclaim and paving as the preferred method. The costs for this process are substantially more affordable (reconstruction is estimated at $1,000,000 per mile), minimizes roadway disruptions and allows treatment of more roads. Gorrill Palmer advised that a reconstructed should need additional treatment in approximately 15 years while a reclaimed road needs treatment in 12 years,” he said.

Again, the cost of new pavement is $1 million-a-mile compared to the cost of reclaim which is between $300,000- and $400,000-a-mile, Ward said. 

“For the three-year difference, it is triple the cost,” he said.

One of the things that brings tourist to Maine is tough on the roads. Water is the main culprit when it comes to pavement damage.

Gorrill Palmer “advised the biggest challenge to rural roadways is water control, and the Town of Casco is focusing on this factor with every road project,” Ward said.

Speaking of water, installing a box culvert on Edwards Road will also be part of the RFP’s scope of work.

On Jan. 9, Casco Public Works Director Mike Genest was asked for his recommendation. He told the board to address Stone Road ASAP.

“That road is falling apart with every rain event. The amount of traffic that road is seeing with more residents — it seems to be deteriorating faster than Raymond Cape Road. It [Raymond Cape Road] is not great, but it’s not in as bad condition as Stone Road. It is barely passable right now,” Genest said.