PITTSFIELD - The Maine Department of Transportation is beginning a years-long project to perform work on four bridges that carry I-95 in Pittsfield. All four bridges are between mile markers 149 and 152. The department will be replacing bridge decks on the three southbound bridges that cross Madawaska Ave., the West Branch Sebasticook River, and Hartland Ave. (Route 152). MaineDOT will be replacing the superstructure on one northbound bridge that crosses Madawaska Ave. The department will also be doing roadway reconstruction on Madawaska Ave.

UPDATE: Weather conditions are pushing much of this schedule by one day.

ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE FROM 9/22/22:

KENNEBEC COUNTY - The Maine Department of Transportation will be temporarily closing several I-95 ramps overnight next week to accommodate paving operations.

All closures will begin at 9:00 p.m. and end by 6:00 a.m. the following the day. Here is the current closure schedule:

FAIRFIELD - The Maine Department of Transportation will be temporarily closing the I-95 northbound Exit 132 on-ramp in Fairfield tomorrow night to accommodate paving operations.

The closure will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 30th and end by 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 1st. This schedule is weather-dependent. Any delay will push work to the following night.

This work is part of a contract awarded to Northeast Paving of Hermon. The total contract amount is $11,819,411.

ELIOT - The Maine Department of Transportation will be replacing a culvert on Beech Road in Eliot. The new culvert will be bigger than the existing one to increase the resiliency of this infrastructure.

This work requires the full closure of part of Beech Road from 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 7th until 5:00 a.m. on Monday, October 10th. The closure area is between Harold L. Dow Highway (Route 236) and State Road, approximately one quarter of a mile west of the intersection with Harold L. Dow Highway.

AUGUSTA - GO MAINE, the statewide ride sharing and trip planning program, relaunched its popular Way 2 GO MAINE challenge on Saturday October 1st. The highly successful How Green Can You Go competition gives green commuters and employers a chance to elevate their alternative travel games; build their own company teams; and vie for incentives, prizes, and bragging rights. Prizes include a Maine State Park vehicle pass and $200, $100, and $50 gift cards that can be won by commuters using each week's featured mode or by members who join GO MAINE in the month of October.

Following yesterday's tragic plane crash in Arundel that took the lives of Eldon Morrison and Paul Koziell of CPM Constructors, the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority issued the following statements.

Statement by Bruce Van Note, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation:

BRUNSWICK/TOPSHAM - The Maine Department of Transportation will be performing a bridge inspection of the Frank J. Wood Bridge between Tuesday, October 25th and Thursday, October 27th. This bridge carries Route 201 between Brunswick and Topsham. Because of the poor condition of the fracture critical Frank J. Wood Bridge, MaineDOT engineers inspect it every six months instead of the normal every 24 month frequency. The structure is scheduled to be replaced.

PORTLAND - Next week, the Maine Department of Transportation and its contracting partners will be doing paving work on Veranda Street, Wordsworth Street, Olympia Street, and Oregon Street in Portland. This is one of the final phases of MaineDOT's Veranda Plan project. This project involved the rapid replacement of the interstate bridge that carries I-295 over Veranda Street in Portland as well as the reconfiguration of the roadways underneath the bridge.

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.

AUGUSTA - In partnership with the other northern New England states, the Maine Department of Transportation launched an updated New England 511 website today. This new site includes improved features to help drivers navigate daily commutes or weekend trips through Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.