Kelly Gatcomb has worked at the Rivers Edge Convenience Store on Route 9 for four years.
During that time, she has seen dozens of semi trucks speed past the shop and her home on Route 9 in Eddington. Many, she said, would go over the 35 mph speed limit.
But since the Interstate 395 connector opened on June 27, 2025, fewer trucks have been passing by the store and her home, she said.
“It’s nice to not have them go through. It was constant,” Gatcomb said.
The I-395 connector finally opened last year after more than two decades of planning. The 6-mile stretch of road connects I-395 with Route 9, commonly known as the Airline, to divert trucks from using routes 46 and 1A to reach the Canadian border.
In the year since the $107 million construction project was completed, Maine Department of Transportation data shows heavy-truck traffic has plummeted on those routes. That’s a huge improvement for residents of Brewer.
Brewer’s assistant city manager, Jason Moffitt, said the city doesn’t have any data to show what traffic changes have occurred in the past year, but residents and city staff think fewer semi trucks and less heavy traffic are going through Brewer and using North Main Street.
“There’s still plenty of traffic coming down Route 9, but I do think there’s less truck traffic,” Moffitt said.
Data collected by the Maine Department of Transportation in August 2025, two months after the connector opened, supports what Gatcomb and Moffitt have seen in Brewer.
Maine DOT data shows that heavy-truck traffic dropped on routes 9 and 46 by 60% and 79%, respectively, compared with the 2023, according to Andrew Gobeil, Maine DOT director of communications.
A follow-up study will be conducted later this summer to measure trends for this year, Gobeil said. The results so far show that the connector is working as intended and any further shifts in traffic patterns will take time, he said.
“MaineDOT is very pleased with the Connector’s performance to date and anticipates that continued familiarity with the new route will lead to additional reductions in heavy traffic on surface streets in Brewer,” Gobeil said.
Although truck traffic has gone down, cars are still using Route 9 and coming into the convenience store, Gatcombe said. Regulars are still constant and other travelers stop by, she said.
Although she’s heard that Eddington and Brewer residents who live along the connector complain about the noise and that their land isn’t as expansive, Gatcomb said it’s nicer to live on the Airline now that fewer trucks use it.
“It’s positive for the residents on Route 9,” Gatcomb said.