Starting Next Monday The Ohio St. Bridge Over I-95 Will Be Closed

There's a lot in store for that small section of road crosses over I-95 on Ohio Street in Bangor. Starting next Monday, the bridge will be shut down, and demolition will begin as MDOT crews work to replace the bridge, and have it up and running again by fall. In September, the bridge will begin to re-open one lane at a time.

Until then, there's going to be not only the bridge closure itself, but also at night there could be time when access to and from the highway is shut down completely in that area, to allow crews to work more quickly and safely. This will also affect pedestrian traffic in the area too. Here are what the detours will look like:

And this will be the suggested route for folks getting around on foot in that area:

Not a lot of folks realize that this bridge is over 60 years old at this point, and is in great need of repair/replacement. As are many other bridges in Maine. Studies have been done on bridges all over the state, and Maine has a slew of "unsafe" bridges. Since this is such a high traffic area, it's nice to see this will get the necessary upkeep.

If all goes according to plan, the project should wrap up fairly quickly, with the first phase being reached in September. At that point, with the bridge being re-opened one lane at a time, it will take til November to finally complete. But hey... anything that makes roads safer for cars to drive on, I'm all for it!!