AUGUSTA - The Western Avenue Bridge Project will see precast bridge units (PBUs) placed into their permanent locations late Wednesday night, July 16 into Thursday morning, July 17. The project will require temporary closures of Interstate I-95 Northbound between 11:00 p.m. Wednesday and 5:00 a.m. Thursday. While the PBUs are placed, I-95 Northbound will see intermittent closures of no more than 25 minutes to facilitate the construction. As is always the case, weather and other factors may impact the proposed calendar. MaineDOT will provide updates on the project as needed.
The existing Western Avenue bridge is approximately 70 years old. MaineDOT is replacing the structure with a new bridge on a similar alignment. The new bridge will provide additional vertical clearance on the interstate. It will also include sidewalks on both sides of the bridge and approximately 1,350 feet of new sidewalk along Western Avenue and Whitten Road to improve pedestrian access and safety.
On-site construction for this project started in November 2023. All construction is scheduled to be done in June 2026.
The contractor for this project is Reed & Reed, Inc. of Woolwich. The contract amount is approximately $30 million.