Maine Senate President Kevin Raye, MaineDOT Commissioner David Cole, and local officials celebrated the start of construction on a $7 million port expansion project in Eastport today with a groundbreaking at the construction site.

The ceremony marked the beginning of construction on the new bulk material handling system which will expand the capacity of the Estes Head Cargo Terminal in Eastport.

The Maine Department of Transportation has postponed tonight?s Augusta Exit 113 public hearing and rescheduled the hearing for Monday, January 24 at 6:00 at the Augusta City Center Lecture Hall.

At the public hearing, representatives of the Maine Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration will be available to explain the Exit 113 Proposed Alternative which will provide improved east ? west access from Route 3 to Route 27. The representatives will also listen to concerns, receive comments, and answer questions relative to the Environmental Assessment.

Motorists who utilize Route 26/100 in Falmouth should be aware of periodic delays on Thursday, January 20 as construction crews must close the Falmouth Railroad Bridge in order to offload steel beams that will be utilized in the construction of the new bridge.

Crews will be closing the bridge every hour starting at 9:00 a.m. for periods of 10-15 minutes in order to offload steel beams from delivery trucks. All deliveries and unloading are expected to be completed by 3 p.m. that same afternoon.

The Maine Department of Transportation, in conjunction with businesses and town and government officials in the Fort Kent area, have implemented a new traffic plan that now allows heavy truck traffic to cross the International Bridge in Fort Kent.

The 82-year-old bridge was posted with a weight limit of 3 tons early last month due to the deteriorating condition of the outside steel beams that support the bridge deck. As part of the new traffic plan, the new posted weight limit is four tons, and a signal system now regulates truck traffic across the bridge.

With the heavy snowfall throughout much of the state this year, the Maine Department of Transportation is urging motorists to use extra caution when entering roads and approaching intersections, as the unusually high snowbanks can limit a driver?s field of vision, creating dangerous situations for merging traffic.

While municipalities and MaineDOT work to lower and remove these high snowbanks, motorists need to use caution when approaching intersections and merging into oncoming traffic, due to blindspots created by the high snowbanks.

Motorists who utilize Route 26/100 in Falmouth should be aware of periodic delays on Wednesday, February 9, and Thursday, February 10 as construction crews must close the Falmouth Railroad Bridge in order to offload steel beams that will be utilized in the construction of the new bridge.

Crews must close the bridge at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on each day for a period of 20 minutes in order to unload large steel beams from delivery trucks. There will be only two closures each day.

Motorists who utilize I-95 northbound in Augusta need to be aware of a lane closure and possible delays at the Exit 112 Bridge on I-95 northbound starting Wednesday, February 16.

Northbound traffic will be reduced to one lane in order for crews to replace the bridge decking and surface. Northbound traffic will remain reduced to one lane until May 5, at which point two lanes of traffic will be opened with a reduced width in order to replace the shoulder area of the bridge deck.

Crews are set to begin clearing brush alongside the Calais Branch Rail Line north of downtown Ellsworth as construction begins on the initial phase of creating a 10?-wide, paved bicycle/pedestrian trail that will connect Ellsworth High School with area neighborhoods.

The bicycle/pedestrian trail will follow alongside the track from the intersection of Route 179 and Route 1A to Birch Avenue in Ellsworth. The Ellsworth High School is located near the middle of this 1.3 mile section of trail.

Motorists who utilize Cobbosseecontee Road in Monmouth need to be aware of an upcoming lane closure starting Thursday, February 17 at the Jock Stream Bridge over Jock Stream.

Flaggers will regulate alternating one-way traffic at the bridge as crews begin preliminary construction on the bridge replacement. Alternating one-way traffic will continue until approximately April 10th when the road will close in order to replace the bridge. The road is expected to remain closed until the construction is complete in late August.

Motorists who utilize Main Street in Newport should be aware of possible delays later this week due to construction work on the Main Street Bridge which carries Route 2 traffic over the east branch of the Sebasticook River in downtown Newport.

Traffic over the bridge will be reduced to one lane of alternating, one-way traffic regulated by flaggers as crews begin work on the shoulders and slope areas along the sides of the road leading up to the bridge. Work is expected to last two to three weeks.