The crumbling concrete walkways throughout Houlton’s historic downtown have been replaced by Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant asphalt sidewalks that make Market Square visits much easier to navigate.
“The project is 100% completed and just waiting for a final Department of Transportation walkthrough,” said Josh McLaughlin, owner of McLaughlin Construction, the project’s contractor.
Funded by the Maine Department of Transportation, the $1.27 million project included the reconstruction of sidewalks and pedestrian crossings on Market Square, Main Street, Water Street and Broadway, according to town officials.
It’s been more than 30 years since the town had new walkways, and many have fallen into disrepair, often creating challenges for people — particularly those who use wheelchairs — to navigate. In the works for nearly a decade, the work started on April 20 and finished this month.
“I think it looks beautiful, I really do,” said Interim Town Manager Nancy Ketch. “Their crew did an amazing job. They were so responsive and if anybody had concerns they addressed them immediately.”
Designed to meet state Americans with Disabilities Act standards, the work included bituminous pavement, new granite curb, resetting of existing granite curb, stamping and coloring sidewalk segments, some lighting resetting and relocating, new lighting, catch basin and storm drain installation, concrete work around trees and a concrete retaining wall, state transportation officials said.
The walkways are all asphalt based, which will hold up better than concrete in northern Maine’s harsh winters.
It is a bit more elastic and holds up better to freeze and thaw cycles and deicing salt will break down concrete faster, McLaughlin said.
The walkways are black and rimmed closest to the curb by a more decorative stamped and painted antique red brick. Crews also added benches in the Market Square area.
McLaughlin said years ago there were benches in Market Square and he remembers them when he was in grade school.
The idea for the stamped walkways came from a similar project in Skowhegan, Ketch said, adding that she was recently there for a conference and the stamped walkways look even more like brick with the passage of time.
“It’s been there I think for 20 years,” she said. “We didn’t want to lose that aesthetic of the brick; it gives some color to the downtown.”
Engineers, state planners and town officials started measuring curbs, slopes and steps about 10 years ago. Because the project took so long to get started, some unforeseen things happened related to ADA rule changes with slopes and grades, McLaughlin said.
“We had several of those pop up and to make it work it took several departments putting their heads together to try and figure out the best fit,” McLaughlin said. “The DOT and the engineering firms were very responsive.”
Ketch said there were several times the contractors asked her to come and look at what they were adjusting before they moved ahead.
While it can look good on paper, trying to make the design match into an existing road took additional planning, McLaughlin said.
Crews had to remove the old sidewalk material, install new gravel, reset some curbing in Market Square, grade sidewalk areas where curbing was in place, reset some bollards and streetlights and prepare spaces for trees and benches prior to the finish paving work.
Because all this disruption was in a busy retail area, McLaughlin gave away about $5,400 to the community while the project was underway to keep shoppers excited.
McLaughlin Construction held weekly drawings for $100 gift certificates that they bought from all the retail stores. Anyone who visited a business had a chance to be entered into the drawing, he said.
McLaughlin gave nonretail businesses and organizations gift cards for lunch for their staff or a $100 donation for them to use to treat the staff, he said.
“I appreciated the patience of the community and the downtown businesses,” McLaughlin said. “I’m proud of the results and I think it was a good working relationship between us, the DOT Sewell [engineering] and the town of Houlton.”
