Town Manager Matt Sturgis told the Town Council the Maine Department of Transportation plans two significant bridge projects in Cumberland, with construction work anticipated over the next two years and traffic impacts during the work.

The first project is a complete replacement of the Tuttle Road bridge over I‑295. Sturgis said the new span will be built adjacent to the existing bridge so traffic can keep using the current structure during construction. The new bridge design calls for two 11‑foot travel lanes, 5‑foot shoulders and a 6‑foot sidewalk. "Right now there isn't much for a sidewalk that's down there," Sturgis said, adding the state intends to keep a four‑way stop at the Tuttle/Middle Road intersection at the completion of the project because the intersection has been identified as a high‑crash location.

The second project, at the location locally called Noise Bridge on Longwoods Road, will replace an undersized culvert that regularly overtops the road in heavy rain. Sturgis said the DOT plans to install a wider, longer precast concrete box culvert and raise the road about one foot to improve conveyance and reduce future overtopping. Because about 3,800 vehicles a day use that stretch, DOT is planning a full road closure for the bulk of the work lasting roughly six weeks, with a designated detour using Wind Road to Falmouth Road that adds roughly 11 miles to the route between Cumberland and Falmouth; local detours will be available for neighborhood traffic.

Councilor Kopp asked about fish passage and ecological impacts at the culvert site; Sturgis said he would request details from DOT about how the precast box would be treated (for example, graveling the bottom) to preserve fish runs. Sturgis also said acquisitions and easements appear to be complete and that the town budget allocation for the project this year was $22,000, far below earlier estimates of about $300,000 in town participation.

Sturgis and councilors noted there may be occasional night work and temporary impacts to I‑295 similar to prior bridge projects in the area. He named Jerry Doste at Maine DOT and Denver Small at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection as DOT/DEP contacts for the projects. The council did not take formal action on the update; staff said they will continue outreach with DOT and notify residents before deployment of the four‑way stop and other traffic control measures.