Brace Yourself for Major Route 202 Bridge Traffic Change in Hampden, ME

There just aren't that many ways in and out of Hampden...

If we're being real, there aren't an endless number of ways to get in and out of Hampden. You can use Main Road North or South, the "highway" part of Route 202, and the Dysart's area of Coldbrook Road/Odlin Road. There are a couple really esoteric ways in, if you know where to needle in and out of a few neighborhoods.

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But for months, there's been tons of construction on Route 1A, the Main Road and Western Avenue intersection, and as of late, the bridges across the Souadabscook Stream on 202. It feels like there's no real convenient way in or out these days. Granted, it's all work that needs to be done, but still...

Now we're going to be losing two lanes on the bridges.

Originally, there was a large LED sign that said the traffic pattern change was starting this week, and it may still. Regardless, you can clearly see as you drive over either bridge, that the DOT will be redirecting traffic from the outbound side to the inbound side, and the inbound bridge will temporarily become a two-lane road.

It's not a huge deal, but this will definitely impact the morning and evening commutes. Worse, that area is also known notoriously as an informal dragstrip. when patterns are totally normal, it's basically a race track. I shudder to see what will happen when fast moving vehicles start trying to merge into one lane. There will definitely be accidents.

How long will it all take?

There's the real rub... It's going to take the better part of 3 YEARS! Like, how? It seemed like the new bridges in Bangor practically go up in a matter of months, not three frikkin' years. It's unreal. They're going to fix one bridge, then do the whole redirect with the traffic pattern again, but to the other side.

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Then they'll fix the other bridge, and in Spring of 2027, they'll do the finish work and the two bridges will once again be open. But fore real, I don't even feel like the I-395 connector has taken that long. And that has multiple bridges over several miles of road. But hey... I just have to drive through there, no big. But that's the scoop. Three solid years of constant construction in one area. Yay.