PORTLAND - The Maine Department of Transportation will be closing I-295 over Veranda Street in Portland from 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 22nd to 11:00 a.m. on Monday, October 25th. Veranda Street (under the bridge) will be closed from 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 18th to 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 25th. These closures are being done to accommodate the replacement of the Veranda Street Bridge.
The Veranda Street Bridge is 60 years old and needs to be replaced. This project also involves a reconfiguration of the roadways beneath the bridge to improve mobility and safety. Crews will construct the new bridge on the east side of the existing bridge and then a Self-Propelled Modular Transporter (SPMT) will be used to slide the new structure into place during the 60-hour interstate closure. This is the first time an SPMT is being used in the State of Maine. This accelerated bridge construction process will greatly reduce the length of time needed for this project. That will save money and reduce traffic impacts. The contractor on this project, Cianbro, had until May 1st to select closure dates.
MaineDOT will be conducting significant public outreach efforts in the coming months about these closures and the detours that will be available to drivers. We are also working to have live video feeds of the accelerated bridge construction available during the closure weekend. We are discouraging people from visiting the site as it is an active construction site.
The contract for construction of this project is $18.1 million. The total project cost (including engineering and design work) is approximately $20.8 million. On-site work started in March. We aim to have the project finished by the end of 2022.