BANGOR, Maine — The Maine Department of Transportation will shut down a busy section of Interstate 395 during an extended weekend in May to replace a heavily used 57-year-old bridge.
MDOT announced its official plans for the replacement of the I-395 bridge that passes over Webster Avenue near Bangor Municipal Golf Course during a news conference Tuesday at Bangor City Hall.
The stretch of I-395 between Exits 1 and 2, which sees an average 36,000 cars per day, will close for 83 hours starting either May 6, 13 or 20. The road will shut down at 8 p.m. on whichever Friday the work starts and reopen at 7 a.m. the following Tuesday, according to Wayne Frankhauser Jr., MDOT’s manager for the Urban and Federal Bridge Program.
Exit 182, which links Interstate 95 with I-395 in both directions, also will be closed during construction. The I-395 ramps on Main Street in Bangor also will be closed for safety reasons.
The contractor, S.E. MacMillan Co., will notify DOT the Tuesday before construction will begin, looking at extended forecasts to determine whether crews will have a dry enough stretch of weather to complete the fast-paced project.
MDOT’s contract with MacMillan to complete the bridgework is worth $2.6 million.
Between the time they close the bridge Friday night and the time they reopen it Tuesday, crews will have replaced the bridge in its entirety. They’ve already built an arch substructure underneath the existing bridge.
“It’s really almost unheard of,” MDOT spokesman Ted Talbot said of the strategy for this bridge replacement. In weighing its options of how to replace the bridge, MDOT also considered keeping the bridge open and replacing it in sections, but that project likely would have resulted in lane closures and traffic disruptions for more than a year.
“We feel this is a better option that will have far less impact on the traveling public,” Frankhauser said Tuesday.
While I-395 is closed, MDOT has set up a detour. Drivers on I-95 who want to get to I-395 east should take I-95’s Exit 180 to head east on Coldbrook Road, turn left onto Route 202 linking up with I-395 at Exit 2.
Those traveling on I-395 to I-95 should take I-395’s Exit 2 to Route 202 southbound, turning right onto Coldbrook Road and continuing to the I-95 interchange at Exit 180.
Temporary traffic signals will be installed on Coldbrook Road at the Interstate 95 ramps to accommodate the extra traffic.
The detour should add about 1.5 miles and 5 minutes to drivers’ commutes, according to MDOT.
“We are asking travelers to give themselves some extra time, drive safely and help make this weekend challenge pass smoothly and easily for everyone,” Frankhauser said.
The bridge replacement is unrelated to another MDOT I-395 project that will stretch throughout the summer. Crews will mill and repave the entire 5-mile length of I-395, including all its on- and offramps. That $5.25 million effort will not result in road closures, and all work will be done overnight. Crews may need to close some ramps overnight, but will keep a lane open on both sides of the interstate while they work between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
MDOT will not start work until 10 p.m. while the American Folk Festival and Bangor State Fair are in town.
“While highway work is always weather dependent, MDOT estimates that all of the interchange improvements will be completed by November,” Talbot said.
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