ELLSWORTH – City officials have decided to keep things local for Ellsworth’s largest and most critical road construction project in recent years.

R.F. Jordan & Sons of Ellsworth has been selected as the contractor for a $2.7 million project to rebuild Myrick Street and a portion of Route 1 in downtown Ellsworth.

The road repairs are designed to coincide with a major retail development project that will bring 26 new stores to Hancock County, including a Wal-Mart Supercenter as the anchor.

Michelle Beal, Ellsworth’s finance director and acting city manager, said R.F. Jordan’s bid was the lowest of three bids the city received.

“It’s nice to award the work to a local business though,” she said Thursday.

Patrick Jordan, owner of R.F. Jordan, said he was pleased that Ellsworth decided to stay local.

“The city has been great to work with on this, so we’re happy they chose us,” he said.

The Ellsworth City Council officially will award the contract to R.F. Jordan at a special meeting today. Construction could begin within a couple weeks, Beal said, and could be finished as early as Nov. 30.

“It’s exciting but there’s also a bit of relief because we’ve been planning this for so long,” she said. “This is going to be a great change for Ellsworth.”

W/S Development, a Massachusetts-based firm that is developing the Acadia Crossing shopping center, already has begun work at the site.

The road construction project will include widening Myrick Street, which connects Routes 1 and 3 to form a triangle. The retail development will be constructed largely on the back side of Myrick Street, across the street from the existing Home Depot.

Beal said the city’s portion of the project’s funding totals $2.1 million. The remaining $600,000 will be picked up by W/S.

While construction is going on, Ellsworth travelers can expect growing pains.

“It’s going to be more difficult to maneuver than it is now,” Beal said, referring to Myrick Street. “Both ends will be open since businesses need to have access.”

Jordan said it’s more or less a straightforward project, but he said drivers will need to be patient.

Once the reconstruction of Myrick Street is completed, it will become part of Route 3 and will be turned over to the Maine Department of Transportation.

A separate-but-related road project will resurface part of Route 3 and turn it into a one-way road from the end of High Street to the intersection of Myrick Street. The bid for that project will be awarded next week, Beal said.

“Change is never easy, but we’re not going to turn Route 3 into one-way in summer by any means,” she said. “We’ll be giving plenty of notification and it will be great that Myrick Street is widened ahead of time.”