Bedford Street Sewer Separation Project Begins Construction April 16

PORTLAND, Maine -- The Bedford Street Sewer Separation project, which will separate the existing combined sewer in the street to a separate sanitary sewer and a separate storm water drain, will begin construction work the week of April 16. The sanitary sewage will continue to the wastewater treatment plant, while the storm water will tie into new storm drains to be installed in Bedford Street, Durham Street, Forest Avenue, Baxter Boulevard, Deerfield Road and Belmeade Road before ultimately discharging into Back Cove. The Portland Water District will also be replacing water mains within project streets.

Construction for this project will be performed by Shaw Brothers Construction, Inc. The first two weeks of the project will consist of installing two new storm drain outfall pipes into Back Cove along Baxter Boulevard between Preble Street Extension and Belmeade Road. During this sequence, traffic will be restricted to one lane in each direction along Baxter Blvd from Dartmouth Street to Preble Street Extension as crews work to install the storm drain outfall pipes into the cove. During the outfall construction, the Back Cove trail will temporarily be closed. Back Cove trail users will have an established detour lane along Baxter Boulevard as work is completed. Once the outfall work is complete, the project will head southwest along Baxter Boulevard towards Forest Avenue and Bedford Street.

Project work will typically run from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM during the project unless night work is
required. The contractor will be required to keep driveway access open to all driveways unless it is necessary to close in order to complete a section of the work. If driveway access needs to be disrupted the contractor will be required to give sufficient notice to owners prior to the disruption.

Streets will be posted “No Parking” as necessary during construction activities. This is done to protect vehicles and to make moving around the site easier for the contractor. Parking is restricted only when absolutely necessary. Vehicles will be towed if in violation. The contractor will be using heavy equipment during the project. We ask you to use caution when driving through the work zones and be aware of equipment and personnel for the safety of all.

Drivers and residents should expect lane closures and traffic delays on all project streets during construction hours. Please be sure to check the City’s website regularly for project traffic updates.   

Trash and recycling pickup for all streets will remain the same. Please make sure both trash and recycling are at your curb by 6:00 AM.

This project will consist of two phases. The first phase of the project includes work on Baxter Blvd, Forest Avenue (Bedford Street-Preble Street Ext.), Bedford Street and Durham Street.  The contractor will be required to finish the first phase of the project by October 31, 2018 with final paving to occur in 2019. The second phase of the project will take place in the spring of 2019 which will include Belmeade Road, Deerfield Road and Forest Avenue (Preble Street Ext. to Deerfield Road.).

As a reminder, this project is intended to help the City with its efforts to prevent Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO) into Back Cove as part of the City’s long term CSO reduction agreement with the EPA.

Questions or concerns can be directed to the City’s project manager, Justin Pellerin, at 207-874-8828 or JRP@portlandmaine.gov.