2024 Street Improvements

Overview

The City of Orono has prepared plans for the 2024 Street Improvements Project. The project includes milling, reclaiming, and paving Orchard Park Road, Willow Drive between Fox Street and Brown Road, Partenwood Road, and Partenwood Lane. Concrete curb and gutter will be placed along some of Partenwood Road.

Project Update

July 18, 2024

This past week Orchard Park Rd and Willow Dr have been paved with non-wear (first lift) and wear (top lift). Once the pavement has cooled enough, a restoration crew will be around to blend the new road into the existing ditches and yards. The restoration will be seeded with hydroseed. The mixture will contain lawn seed and fertilizer. The contractor is responsible for ensuring the seed grows. Residents can help by watering their lawns.

This past week residents along Partenwood Rd have had the restoration team working to fill in the area around the new curb. This will continue for the next few days. Residents are encouraged to water the seed to help the seed take. It is the responsibility of the contractor to ensure the seed grows. Partenwood Rd and Partenwood Ln are scheduled for the final paving layer on Thursday, July 25. Notices will be handed out to all residents affected early next week.

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July 3, 2024

This past week the contractor started to tolerance the roads on the project. They plan to finish tolerancing on Monday. Partenwood Road also had concrete curb poured.

Next week, the contractor plans to pave all four roads with base course Tuesday and Wednesday. Residents should have all vehicles parked off the road starting at 7am until the road has been paved. Residents can drive on the new pavement once the pavement has been rolled. Paving notices were handed out on July 3 to all residents on the project.

Residents who had their paved driveways removed along Partenwood Road for the curb pour can expect their driveways to be restored on Thursday.

The contractor will not be working on July 4th.

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June 26, 2024

In the past week, the contractor was able to mill and reclaim all roads within the project. While the roads are being worked on, there will be dust that vehicles will kick up. The contractor will be around to water the roads, but this is a very temporary fix as the water added to the road will evaporate with warmer temperatures. The project representative (Kristina) is watching the conditions of the road and will ensure the contractor maintains dust control until pavement is placed.

Thursday and Friday the contractor plans to pour curb along Partenwood Rd. Residents that are affected by this should have received a notice in their door on Wednesday, June 26 with instructions. If the concrete pour is pushed to Monday due to weather, residents will still be able to access their driveways Wednesday, July 3 at the end of day. If Monday is also canceled, new notices will be issued with an updated date for after the holiday weekend.

Over the next week, the contractor plans to start tolerancing Willow Dr S and Orchard Park Rd. Tolerancing is a process where the contractor restores the crown of the road using a blade. The blade will make multiple passes until the crown has been established.

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June 19, 2024

This week the contractor was able to start milling and reclaiming the streets. Weather might play a role in the completion of this process and streets might be pushed off until early next week.

Next week, the contractor plans to place concrete curb and gutter along Partenwood Rd. Notices will be provided to all residents affected at a minimum the day before. The curb and gutter will be placed using a machine that will follow a string line. The string line will be placed the night before or the morning of the pour. If the string is placed the night before, the contractor will drop the line in front of the driveways for access overnight. Once the curb has been placed, residents will be out of their driveways for up to 7 days to allow the concrete to cure enough for vehicle weight. The concrete will be fully cured in 28 days.

Those residents who are not on Partenwood Rd will notice that the construction will seem to stop. This is to allow the concrete to cure along Partenwood Rd. There will be times that a blade will be around to grade the road but there will be a pause on all roads for a few weeks. When the contractor is ready to place the non-wear (first layer) pavement, a notice will be handed out to each resident on the project. Updates will continue to be posted on this site to ensure everyone has the most current information.

All construction activities may adjust based on the weather and subcontractor availability. Thank you for your continued patience while we improve your roads.

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June 13, 2024

Next week the contractor plans to start construction. Traffic control will be placed and lowering iron (process of removing the manhole covers from the manholes) will be completed. The manhole covers will be placed off the road in the shoulder to help the contractor quickly find the manholes when the paving has been completed. The contractor plans to mill and reclaim the roads between Wednesday and Friday.

Partenwood Road residents will also have their yards and driveways cut back & removed to accommodate the new curb line. Yards can be expected to be cut back up to 5 feet from the current edge of road. To blend into the new curb, driveways will have to be cut back at different distances based on existing slopes. The attempt is to minimize the transition from the existing driveway slope and new slope required to tie into the curb. All driveways will be made accessible for vehicles until the time the road is prepped for the curb.

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June 6, 2024

Due to weather and contractor availability, the project has been pushed back a week and the new anticipated start is the week of June 17. Notices will be handed to all residents directly affected by any major construction activities at a minimum the day before.

Project Timeline

Competitive bids for the work were received in March, and the project was awarded to GMH Asphalt Corporation on March 18, 2024.
GMH Asphalt is currently scheduled to begin work on or after June 10. The plan is to start with the milling and reclaiming all roads. Concrete curb and gutter will be placed and cured along Partenwood Road. Once the concrete has cured, the contractor will be around to shape each road and pave the non-wear (base) course. A few weeks later the wearing (top) course will be placed. All work and timelines are based on the weather and subcontract availability.
Notices will be provided to residents before major construction activities will occur. Residents can also find weekly updates on Orono’s city website.
The contract completion date for most of the work is August 25.

Project Location