The installation of a traffic signal at the junction of Routes 1 and 27 in Wiscasset won’t happen until the spring of 2016.

The planned project under the direction of the Maine Department of Transportation includes the construction of sidewalks in front of the Wiscasset Town Office and Lincoln County Courthouse and two activated pedestrian crosswalks one for Route 1, the other for Route 27.

Aurele Gorneau, MDOT project manager, said the project went out to bid on Sept. 9. “We hope to award the job within the next week or two,” he told the Wiscasset Newspaper Monday afternoon. Gorneau said four to six contractors showed an interest in the job estimated to cost $620,000. Eighty percent of the work will be paid for through federal highway funds, the state will pickup the other 20 percent of the costs.

“The earliest the work will start will probably be sometime in March. Under the terms of the contract the contractor will need to have all the work finished by June 23,” added Gorneau.

Depending on the weather, the contractor may start some of the preliminary work this month including putting in the cement footings for the signals. Gorneau said the intersection would be kept open to traffic throughout the project.

Sidewalks will be added along both sides of Route 1. One will be built along the southbound lane of Route 1 from Bradford Road to Churchill Street and then continue from there past the town office to the intersection of Route 27. Near the war memorial there’ll be a signal installed for an activated pedestrian crosswalk. The crosswalk will run through a street island in the middle of Route 27 and continue to the opposite side of the road, where a new sidewalk will be built around the corner paralleling Washington Street.

Another sidewalk will run alongside the northbound lane of Route 1 from Camden National Bank past the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and end on a diagonal spur into the lower level of the combined county EMA and courthouse parking lots. A Route 1 pedestrian signal and activated crosswalk will also be located in front of the war memorial.

Gorneau said the Route 27 traffic signal will be a detection light meaning it will activate for motorists who want to make a left hand turn onto Route 1. The idea is to relieve some of the congestion at the intersection, Gorneau said.

“It will take some patience from local motorists until they get used to it,” he added. Gorneau said MDOT is implementing the changes to make the corner safer both for motorists as well as pedestrians. He said if the town determines the new light is creating more of a bottleneck MDOT could simply make it a flashing signal. “We won’t really know until next summer how it’s going to work.”

Not everyone is happy with MDOT’s plans for the traffic light. A May 2014 hearing on the project struck a sour cord with a few downtown business owners. Others however, spoke favorably of the project especially the addition of sidewalks.