Temple Avenue Repaving has Started!

The preliminary work on the long-awaited Temple Avenue repaving is now under way and completion is expected by June 15.

The Ocean Park section of Temple (from the railroad tracks to West Grand) is owned by the State and roadway work is funded by a combination of Federal, State and local money. There was not enough money to do the complete reconstruction of the road as needed, so there will only be a new layer of asphalt put on top of the existing pavement. This means that the road will need more work in 5-7 years. The shortage of funds is also limiting work on the sidewalks to an asphalt overlap at this time.

A much more complete job will be done on the remainder of Temple outside of Ocean Park (from the railroad to Saco Avenue) that is owned by Old Orchard Beach. Work to replace culverts and improve drainage in that section was completed last fall. The work that is starting now will replace all of the existing pavement and underlying gravel.

The repaving of Old Orchard Road from Saco Avenue to its beginning in Saco will also be accomplished by June 15. Connoisseurs of bad roads in the Ocean Park area generally agree that Old Orchard Road, with its frost heaves and generous selection of pot holes, is actually in worse shape than Temple Avenue, and may rank among the worst stretches of road anywhere in the State!