Northbound Lane Of Highway In Augusta, Maine, Will Close Temporarily Wednesday Night For Bridgework

Those who travel Interstate 95 in the Augusta area in the overnight hours will want to take note: the northbound lane of the highway will be closed, temporarily, Wednesday night until Thursday morning.

The reason; construction crews from Reed & Reed, Inc. of Woolwhich, will be placing precast bridge units in the are area of the Western Avenue Bridge. It's all part of the $30 million dollar Western Avenue Bridge Project aimed at replacing the current bridge, which is about 70 years old.

The Maine Department of Transportation says this placement of those precast units will start Wednesday evening and run through the early morning on Thursday.

"The project will require temporary closures of Interstate I-95 Northbound between 11:00 p.m. Wednesday and 5:00 a.m. Thursday. While the PBUs are placed, I-95 Northbound will see intermittent closures of no more than 25 minutes to facilitate the construction. As is always the case, weather and other factors may impact the proposed calendar. MaineDOT will provide updates on the project as needed."

The construction project has been going on since November of 2023, and while the bridge alignment will be similar to the current one, the project and includes the creation of thousands of feet of new sidewalk on either side of the bridge, and along Western Avenue, allowing for a safer space for pedestrians who walk along the bridge in that area.

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The website Maine.gov says this new bridge will also be taller than the old one.

"The new structure will provide additional vertical clearance over I-95, to help avoid over height vehicle strikes."

This project is slated to finish up in the summer of 2026.