ROCKLAND — Gartley and Dorsky engineering firm, of Rockport, briefed Rockland City Council members on the status of the repaving project planned for Old County Road in Rockland during the July 6 special agenda-setting meeting.

The project planned for a 1.5 mile stretch of Old County Road from Route 17 in Rockland toward Limerock Street is nearing execution stage, according to this week’s City Manager’s Report. City Manager James Chauousis wrote in the report, “Rather than brief the Council by memo, I decided to bring Andrew Hedrich and William Gartley, Gartley and Dorsky, in for an exclusive briefing.”

The current plan includes 11-foot wide vehicle travel lanes, and five-foot wide bicycle/pedestrian lanes on each side, clarified as paved shoulders to the roadway marked for bicycles.

“It’s going to be a huge improvement for the walkability and the use of bicycles on Old County Road,” said Will Gartley, president of the firm.

Improvements to all of the drainage along the road are in the plans, as well as the addition of sewer to a section of the road.

Gartley’s goal is to advertise bidding for the project in August. Those who bid on the project will have to answer the engineering firm’s question of ‘how will they go at it?’

The City and the engineers don’t want open spots or gravel patches left during the winter.

Different potential bidders had different opinions on how they would work around the winter months, according to Gartley.

“Some of them were thinking they would start on the ditches and the shoulders and the widening, leave the pavement,” he said. “Others were thinking they’d rather just try to pick a section, do it, get it paved before winter, and then come back in the spring.”

Gartley and Dorsky consulted with traffic engineering firm Gorrill Palmer Civil Engineering for the intersection work, the light, and the signaling at the intersection of Route 17 and Old County Road.

Gorrell and Palmer is the company consulted for the Camden Street project in Rockland, which has not been finalized.

Mayor Frank Isganitis passed along a suggestion of putting a sewer system at the intersection with Lake Avenue, even if it is not immediately put to use. This is “so if we ever wanted to go out, and go up there, that we could accommodate that,” he said.

Project planners assured Isganitis that a system will be constructed that runs by there so the proper hookups would be available when needed.

Councilor Larry Pritchett listed concerns of Rockland residents regarding the Old County Road project. Some residents are wary of widening the travel lanes because doing so increases speed. Some pointed out the need for maximizing the shoulder space for bicycles and pedestrians.

Another resident emailed Pritchett and said, “Deal with drainage for the quality of the road, but also don’t worsen Lindsey Brook Falls in the process.”

The Old County Road project has been considered for several years now. The road, 5.9 miles in length, is referred to as a micro-corridor transporting an average of 7,539 cars per day through Thomaston, Rockland, and Rockport, according to the Old County Road Micro-Corridor Management Plan 2013. 

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com.