Motorists on Interstate 95 northbound between Waterville and Pittsfield this spring and summer will see road work from Waterville to Pittsfield as part of the Maine Department of Transportation’s pavement preservation and striping projects.
The work will be done on about an 18-mile stretch of I-95, to include Waterville, Fairfield, Burnham, Benton, Clinton and Pittsfield.
Construction is expected to start in late spring and continue until it is completed.
Shawn Smith, senior project manager in the DOT’s Bureau of Project Development, said the paving project will begin at the Webb Road Bridge in Waterville and extend to Johnson Flat Road in Pittsfield.
“This project will include not only paving the interstate, but the on and off ramps as well,” Smith said Friday in an email. “We plan on working nights on the areas south of the Kennebec River bridge and any ramp paving. We will work days north of the Kennebec River bridge until the last week in June, then swap over to nights to minimize traffic delays.”
Smith said DOT officials opened the bids for the project Wednesday and they are undergoing the normal bid review process.
“So at this time we have not awarded the project,” he said, noting it normally takes about 30 days to select a winning contractor bid.
The DOT also plans to launch a traffic paint striping project on I-95 and I-195, statewide, to include I-95 in Waterville, Fairfield, Clinton, Benton, Palmyra and Pittsfield.
The striping project is in the process of being awarded to a contractor, according to Smith.
“This project is part of my yearly restriping program for the interstate where we will paint segments of the interstate system that was paved within the last 3-4 years,” he said. “In the Waterville areas, we will be repainting the area south of the Kennebec River bridge in Fairfield to Main Street in Waterville. This work will be exclusively at night, and will move quickly.”
A bridge joint replacement project is also being planned, from Waterville to Pittsfield, as part of the DOT’s bridge program, according to Smith. The project, he said, will be advertised in 2023, for construction that season. The work will focus on some joint rehabilitation on bridges on Kennedy Memorial Drive, Old County Road and Main Street in Waterville; River and Hinkley roads in Clinton; and the C.A. Clausen Bridge over the Kennebec River in Fairfield, according to Smith.
Paul Merrill, DOT’s director of communications, said all projects are searchable by municipality on DOT’s Work Plan website, www.maine.gov/mdot/projects/workplan/search/.
“The Work Plan is a three-year look-ahead through 2024,” he said.
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