Augusta, The Maine Department of Transportation has released the Interstate 295 Recommendation Report for the Scarborough to Brunswick corridor. As traffic volumes have grown on I-295, congestion, incidents and the number of crashes have increased. Also, the reliability of travel times on the corridor has decreased.

The recommendations in this report are grouped into three categories:

Bar Harbor, MaineDOT and its contractors will suspend work on Route 3 for the 4th of July holiday.

Road construction will be shut down starting on Friday, June 29th and will resume on Monday, July 9th. The one-way detour loop will remain in effect throughout the holiday weekend, with traffic inbound to Bar Harbor and Route 3 and outbound detoured to Park Loop Road.

Hallowell - As the reconstruction of Water Street in Hallowell continues, work will shift to the west side of Water Street beginning on Monday, July 23rd.

Crews will set up jersey barriers from Central Street to Winthrop Street on the west side with chain link fence, fabric and lights. In addition, the installation of a water main will take place on Temple Street.

Varying traffic patterns will be controlled by flaggers when needed.

Augusta – MaineDOT’s stenciling and striping crews will be starting evening and overnight work beginning this Sunday, July 29th.

Striping activities will take place on various sections of the interstate and connecting roadways. Motorists are advised to allow plenty of room for this work to be safely completed.

Sections scheduled for stenciling and striping are:

Road reconstruction on Route 27 in Belgrade Village begins Tuesday, September 4th.

Normally, work will be allowed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. There may be times when the hours must be extended to 5:30 p.m. or Saturday work may be required. One lane of alternating traffic will be managed by flaggers so motorists should expect delays.

Portland - Pan Am Railways will be rebuilding the crossing at Forest Avenue between Concord Street and Ocean Avenue as well as rebuilding the crossing on Saunders Street.

This work requires that a closure be put in place at this location beginning at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 7th and will remain in place until approximately 3:00 a.m. Monday, September 10th. Crews will be working day and night to ensure there is no impact to Monday morning commuter traffic

Bar Harbor - Work on the reconstruction of Route 3 north of Bar Harbor will be paused from the end of the day on Thursday, October 4th through the Columbus Day weekend, with work resuming on Tuesday, October 9th. A one-way detour loop will remain in effect throughout the holiday weekend with traffic inbound to Bar Harbor on Route 3 and outbound detoured to Park Loop Road.

Bar Harbor-MaineDOT announced today that two-way traffic will resume by the Thanksgiving Day weekend on Route 3 in Bar Harbor. The one-way detour loop that has been in effect throughout the summer and fall is being discontinued in time for the increased traffic anticipated for the holiday.

Currently, contractors are working to shape and loam shoulders from Acadia National Park to the bluffs. They will also be installing new guardrail in that area as well as installing new road signs along Route 3. All work is subject to weather conditions.

Exit 6B will remain OPEN during the emergency repairs.

Portland-Today, Tuesday, 11/20, crews are performing emergency bridge joint repairs on I-295 in Portland. There will be one lane of traffic at mile 6 southbound.

These emergency repairs will take approximately 4 hours to complete and motorists may experience slight delays.

Note-When crews mobilized on scene, they were able to identify enough spacing for the work zone where closing Exit 6B became unnecessary.

Portland – Beginning at 12:30 p.m. today, Tuesday, 11/20, crews will be performing emergency bridge joint repairs on I-295 in Portland which will necessitate the closure of Exit 6B southbound.

These emergency repairs will take approximately 4 hours to complete. During this time, Exit 6B southbound will be closed.

Motorists should plan accordingly.