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DOT and city outline multi-year bridge work; residents warned of prolonged local impacts
Summary
Maine DOT and city engineering staff described several concurrent bridge-replacement projects (including Stillwater Avenue and a bridge over I-95), a design-build delivery method, and a construction timeline that could extend to 2029; staff said coordination will be key to minimizing neighborhood traffic impacts.
City engineering staff and a DOT project manager on Monday briefed the Infrastructure Committee on a cluster of bridge replacement projects that the Maine Department of Transportation plans to deliver by design-build, with construction expected to begin in 2025 and run through 2029 for major crossings.
Jefferson Davis, interim director of engineering, summarized DOT plans for multiple nearby bridges including the bridge on Stillwater Avenue, a bridge carrying a local avenue over I-95 (named in the presentation as "Investigative Avenue"), and other DOT-led replacements and resurfacing projects. Davis said DOT intends to use the design-build procurement method to compress schedule and coordinate contractor and designer responsibilities: "they hope that's gonna save some time for their process," he said.
The nut graf: several sizable bridge projects clustered in the same corridor mean multi-year construction and local detours; DOT and city staff said they will try to maintain traffic and pedestrian access where possible but warned of intermittent closures, detours via Valley Avenue and local side streets, and temporary traffic controls at sensitive intersections.
Presentation slides and staff discussion said Stillwater Avenue work could preserve two-way traffic most of the time, with occasional closures planned for night or limited-duration work. For the bridge over I-95 the concept is to replace a multi-span steel-beam bridge with a two-span girder bridge, provide 11-to-12-foot lanes, 3-to-4-foot shoulders and a 5-foot sidewalk, and manage shallow utilities and residential access nearby. DOT indicated it plans concept development and public meetings in the near term, final design in 2025 and construction beginning in fall 2025, with an anticipated completion around 2029 for the larger projects.
Davis and staff stressed the need for close coordination among DOT, the city engineering and public-works departments and public-safety agencies. Committee members raised particular concern about routing highway traffic onto Valley Avenue and Fourteenth Street, sight-line safety at the Bruce Road/Valley Avenue intersection and the potential for drivers to divert onto neighborhood streets. Staff said traffic-control plans and specific mitigation measures will be developed and reviewed with the council as the projects proceed.
The city also reported on shorter, city-managed bridge work such as Ohio Street (a concrete-deck replacement expected to bid in late 2024 or spring 2025 and to take about six months) and mentioned Bullseye/Griffin Road resurfacing coordination with DOT. No binding schedule changes or council approvals were recorded at the committee meeting.
Ending: staff said the city will continue coordination with DOT, run public comment and outreach opportunities while updating the committee as final designs and traffic-control plans become available.
