By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — Once a pot-hole infested area that made the job of dropping off trash and recycling an extremely unpleasant duty, the Casco-Naples Transfer Station has been paved.

People seemed to be delighted with the new pavement but a little confused about the revised traffic flow.

“The paving is appreciated, but the new traffic flow is having a transition period,” according to Casco Town Manager Anthony “Tony” Ward.

After all, people now drive out what used to be the entrance. Meanwhile, the driveway closest to Route 11 on Leach Hill Road is the only entrance. Essentially, everyone drive in one way and out one way.

“We have transferred some of our bulky waste staff to the transfer station to assist in with the new traffic flow,” Ward said.

Besides employees being on site to help people with the altered traffic flow, the town is engaging in other methods of making people aware of the changes.

“Pavement markings, new enter/exit signs, information on our websites and on Facebook” are among the ways the town is communicating with the public, Ward said.

Another piece of good news, besides an improved, paved driving surface, is the construction timeline.

The transfer station project was done between one and two weeks ahead of the estimated completion time of Nov. 9.

“Favorable weather assisted in the timely completion of the project. They lost little or no workdays because of the weather,” Ward said.

“They completed the vast majority of the work last week Friday [Oct. 25] when the base paving was completed,” he said on Thursday. “The topcoat of paving was completed this week. The final action will be painting the traffic flow arrows and parking spots tomorrow [Nov. 1].”

There is an expectation that the construction period will be inline with predicted timeline, considering the bulky waste work started earlier than anticipated.

“This project is progressing ahead of schedule. We anticipate this project being completed on schedule,” according to Ward.

Naples Town Manager Jason Rogers shared the encouraging news about the construction time period. 

“Recent conversations with the contractor indicate that he and his team will make every effort to complete the work ahead of schedule,” Rogers said.

J. Pratt Construction is the contractor for this project. The Casco-Naples Bulky Waste and Transfer Station Council awarded the contract to Pratt at the beginning of the year.

There is another hurdle for the public though: The complete closure of bulky waste.

The transfer station remained open to the public while that construction happened. The number of bins were reduced during construction, but people still had access to the site.

However, the bulky waste facility has to be shut down to public use during that reconstruction project. In fact, the bulky waste portion has been closed to the public since Oct. 21, according to Ward.

“Bulky Waste …  will remain closed until completion of the project,” he said.

Currently, Jan. 10 is the date that the bulky waste reconstruction is estimated to wrap up.

For the time being, there are options for the residents of Naples and Casco to dispose of their bulky waste. The cost will be out of pocket.

“Residents are encouraged to hold bulky waste items at their home,” Rogers said.

He added that people can drop off bulky waste at any facility that accepts those materials. One such company is Casella Waste Systems (also known as PineTree Waste Services).

“Use of this facility is ‘pay as you go’ and [bulky waste] coupons will NOT be accepted,” Rogers said.

Ward, too, emphasized that residents who choose to dispose of bulky waste at commercial facilities must do so at their own cost. The closest one is Casella’s in Naples, he said.

Casella is located 7 Maplewood Dr. in Naples, and accessible off Songo School Road.

To view a video on the redesigned traffic flow at the Casco-Naples transfer station, go to the following link https://youtu.be/jxzmP-A-LUM?feature=shared