After two years of construction, the Windham corridor of Route 302 below the rotary has finally been rebuilt and repaved. No longer must commuters brave pot-holes that once riddled the road or narrowly pass between orange pylons and corroded ditches or be waved through by construction crews.
Now it’s just one smooth ride from the Route 202 rotary all the way down to the Westbrook border. But the lengthy construction has not made life easy for roadside businesses and residents on Route 302 who now are enjoying a long-awaited breath of relief.
“Like any job, it’s a good feeling when it’s done,” said Ken Silver, Maine Department of Transportation’s resident engineer for the Route 302 project.
As the project “field guy,” Silver oversaw reconstruction of the road by R.J. Grondin & Sons of Gorham. In addition to tearing up the old road and paving a new one, the Grondin crew paved a new eight-foot shoulder, installed storm drainage, and created turn lanes at Pope Road and Albion Road. For the most part, the reconstruction went “smoothly” said Silver, though there were a few kinks along the way.
“There’s always unforeseen things in the ground,” Silver said. “We ran into some abandoned gas tanks. But they were handled and we moved on.”
The end of Windham Center Road, which once shot sharply onto Route 302, was also cut off for safety reasons and now motorists must take Albion Road to reconnect.
This is a welcomed change for residents like Brian and Elizabeth Gouin who live on the now “dead end” of Windham Center Road. There had been many accidents at the sharp turn that connected to Route 302, they said, including a few that involved their own children entering their driveway or backing out of it.
“I know it was a real inconvenience,” said Elizabeth of the road work. “But it’s the greatest thing anyway. It was long overdue.”
Brian Stephen, whose lives with his wife and children right on the edge of Route 302, said that the road reconstruction didn’t bother his family much and the crew was accommodating.
“They were nice. They really were,” Stephen said. “Every time that we needed to get in, they’d move stuff or cover holes.”
Business affected
The two-year construction period made business difficult for some stores along Route 302 that depend drive-by traffic.
“It was an impossible time,” said Ken Brown, owner of K & K Crafty Crafts. “I had to refinance my house twice to keep up the business.”
Brown said his craft shop suffered greatly because motorists took other routes to avoid the construction. Of the 120 crafters that his store once showcased, now only 30 remain.
“I lost a lot of crafters because of the construction. So all that rental income is gone,” Brown said. “I’m pretty much working to keep things going.”
His store was not the only one affected. Touch of Country closed and Wake ‘N Bakery moved to Westbrook, to a location beyond the construction. K&K’s Brown is particularly disappointed in the state’s refusal to help him during difficult times.
“The state of Maine needs to notice these businesses and at least make available low-interest loans to keep business going during this sort of construction,” Brown said.
Brown’s business has begun to pick back up, but he is worried that road work at Pride’s Corner in Westbrook will once again put his shop in jeopardy.
Up the street from the K&K at Roosevelt Trail Nursery and Garden Center, owner Joe Gagne is optimistic about the new Route 302 which he calls “superb.”
“We’re glad to see the highway construction done and over with,” Gagne said. “They did a fantastic job.”
Gagne said he did see a dip in sales when the construction first started, but his regular customers “kept business going.”
This year, heavy rain in May affected business more than the construction, Gagne said. Gagne has nothing but compliments for the Grondin crew and their hard work on the road.
“It’s a dream out here now,” Gagne said. “And safe. I don’t think we’ve heard the squeal of tires all summer.”
Cars head west on the new Route 302 toward Windham. The Maine Department of Transportation has just finished up a two-year reconstruction of the road from the Route 202 rotary to the Westbrook border.Send questions/comments to the editors.
