DURHAM - The Maine Department of Transportation will be implementing an emergency road closure and detour at 7:00 p.m. due to the failure of a culvert on Route 9 in Durham.
The closure area is between Royalsborough Road (Route 136) and Pinkham Brook Road (Route 125), just east of the intersection with Route 136.
Detoured traffic should use Route 136 and Route 125 in Durham and Freeport. The total detour length for through traffic is approximately 17 miles. MaineDOT is installing message boards to notify drivers of the closure and detours.
This is an emergency closure. We expect the road to be closed for two weeks.
The culvert that failed had a diameter of six feet. We will be replacing it with an arch that is 15 feet wide and 10 feet tall at its highest point. This replacement culvert will improve the resilience of the infrastructure and be able to accommodate a 100-year storm event.
MaineDOT Director of Communications Paul Merrill will be on site tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. to accommodate any interview requests.
ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE FROM EARLIER TODAY:
DURHAM - A six-foot-wide culvert on Route 9 in Durham failed at approximately 2:30 this afternoon. The location of the incident is approximately a half-mile east of where Route 9 meets Route 136. Crews are currently allowing a single lane of alternating traffic on Route 9, but the Maine Department of Transportation plans to eventually close the road to traffic until we can replace the culvert.