Trees are down and delays are up on the big highway that connects Waldo County with Bangor.

The most dramatic upheavals this summer will be near the Hampden-Winterport line and in Winterport Village, state Department of Transportation officials said this week.

Although much of the $4 million worth of work will be completed by fall, both projects are expected to carry over into next year before the final layer of pavement is rolled. Two additional projects are scheduled to get under way in 2004.

When those are completed, the highway will have been completely upgraded to current specifications.

“The big picture is that we will have upgraded all the parts of that road that have not been built to modern standards,” said Ed Hanscomb of DOT’s Bureau of Planning. “Route 1A is one of our major arterials.”

All of the projects will be funded with 80 percent federal highway funds and 20 percent state funds.

First paved in the 1920s, the road intersects with Route 1 in Stockton Springs and runs north along the Penobscot River through Prospect, Frankfort, Winterport and Hampden to Bangor. A separate Route 1A connects Ellsworth and Bangor.

The summer project scheduled for Winterport has been on the books for six years.

It was delayed until this year because the town wanted to upgrade its subsurface sewer and water lines within the same time frame that DOT was using for the highway. The town has secured funding for the utility improvements and work on that project will begin in conjunction with the road project this summer.

The 1.2-mile project will cost $2.5 million and will run from Mountain View Drive to Merrill Street. Another project, seven-tenths of a mile long, running from Merrill Street north to the town line, is expected to get under way in the spring of 2004. The price tag on that project is $1.16 million.

“There are going to be periods of delay, obviously. Every road construction project has them,” said Mike Davies, an official of DOT’s urban and arterial division assigned to the Winterport segment. “I know the community is very thrilled we’re moving forward with this project, but we know we have to make an extra effort to make sure things run smoothly.”

Davies said the road project incorporates the Winterport utility project and will involve a complete reconstruction. He said that while new curbing and sidewalks would be included in the project, “the footprint through Winterport stays pretty much along the alignment that’s out there today.”

That is not the case in Hampden.

There, the resurfacing requires widening of the highway in places and the taking of land to expand the state’s right of way. Trees have been cut and power lines are being relocated.

The $2 million project extends 1.3 miles from Kincaid Road to Summer Street and is scheduled to get into full gear by midsummer. It will involve work on the shoulders as well as replacement of some of the road base to eliminate frost heaves.

“We hope to get most of it buttoned up this year, but we will have to come back next spring,” said Todd Pelletier, a DOT urban and arterial division engineer working on the Hampden sections.

Pelletier said a second project involving 1.8 miles of roadway from the Bangor line to Wheelden Heights Road was still under development but should get under way in 2003. The $2.6 million project will fall under the jurisdiction of the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System.

At least one man watching the DOT at work on Route 1A in Hampden was watching when the first crews came through to pave the muddy road 70 years ago.

Except for a stint overseas in World War II, Howard “Burpee” Calkins of Calkins Farm has lived all of his 88 years along the highway. He said Tuesday that work on the road was long overdue, but admitted that he was upset the state would take some of his land to make its improvements.

“We can’t do anything about it. Do you think we can? When they get done they’ll be 10 feet from my foundation and will have taken half of my parking lot,” he said. “If they come that close, they’re going to have to put in a light so the traffic won’t hit us.”

Calkins can recall the days when the road to Bangor was a dirt track that became a quagmire every spring. He said his father picked up extra cash using a team of horses to rescue cars and buses stuck in the mud.

“A dollar in daytime, $5 at night,” said Calkins. “They paved that road in 1927. Put down steel mats and covered them with cement. It took 60 Italians two years to do it. They did one side one year, the other side the next.”