Major Progress on Maine’s I-395 Connector, Ending Local Detours

The I-395 connector is a hot button issue for a lot of people.

Sooner than later, the stretch of I-395 that currently runs from Bangor to Holden, will be finished and open to traffic. Since the beginning, folks that live nearby have had all manner of opinions concerning the road. There are some wildly upset people who, for good reason, don't really want a highway running through their yard. Other people could care less. And some folks just sold their houses and moved.

To the rest of us, it'll mean a direct line from Bangor right over to Route 9, pretty much setting us directly on the road to Canada. Large trucks will also not have to take Route 1A over to Route 9 via Route 46 anymore, headed for Canada. There are definitely a number of reasonable benefits.

It's getting a little closer to reality all the time.

You may remember earlier in the year, we let you know there were going to be some pretty substantial detours as bridgework needed to be done on Eastern Ave in Brewer, as well as the Clewlyville Road in Eddington. When we opened up camp this year, it became very clear what a pain in the butt it must be for locals to navigate all of it.

But now, the bridges over both roads have been completed. I drove over both of them myself and took all these pictures. It's funny, when you look out in both directions at the Eastern Ave bridge, you can almost envision the finished road, as they've even done some preliminary paving. Once you get over the the Clewlyville Road bridge, you can see that there's definitely a ways to go.

When is it supposed to be finished?

Ground was broken on the project back in 2022. The projected end date for the whole thing is set for 2025, according to the state. I have to say though, having been through the neighborhood myself, they look pretty far ahead. It's no small feat to basically dig out a brand new 6-mile stretch of road.

But by summer of 2025, with any luck we'll be able to use this new road. It's easily going to shave ten minutes off my drive out to camp. They may not seem like much, but when you're completely focused on getting out to the lake for some R&R, ten minutes might as well be 100 years. I'll take every extra minute by the water I can get.

I'm not sure Eastern Ave or Clewlyville Road would make this list, but still...