PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire — After a seventh-month delay, the new Sarah Mildred Long Bridge will open to traffic on March 30.
The Maine Department of Transportation, in coordination with the contractor, Cianbro, announced the opening of the $163 million bridge connecting Kittery to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, via the Route 1 Bypass.
On March 9, MDOT press secretary Ted Talbot said the department had ordered to “take all appropriate steps” to open the bridge by March 23. However, at the time he said if the weather did not allow for Cianbro workers to finish pointing and patching the bridge towers directly above traffic, MDOT would consider a one week extension beyond the March 23 deadline.
According to an MDOT press release, the remaining work items, after March 30, can be completed with traffic control measures including occasional lane closures and some full closures during overnight hours. MDOT said it would continue to update the public with specific times as March 30 approaches.
Cianbro’s contract allows for DOT to levy $1,000 per-day penalties for every day the bridge remains closed to vehicles beyond the original Sept. 1, 2017 opening day and for additional per-day penalties if the entire project is not complete beyond June 1, which entails installing railroad tracks and landscaping on both sides of the span. Talbot has previously said the discussion on how the fees would potentially be levied, if at all, would take place sometime after the bridge opens.
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