Bridge Work In Bangor On The Horizon For 2020
If you live anywhere on or around Union St. in Bangor, you're used to road construction by now. It feels like we've been in a perpetual state of repair, all up and down that area, for the past year or two. And for many, like myself, detouring up Ohio St. to get to where we need to be, with less wear and tear on our cars, has gotten to be almost second nature, at this point. That's why, when I received an email from a local principal giving parents a heads up that a construction project along Ohio St. would be detouring cars to Union, I had to get some answers.
So I called the Maine DOT, and spoke with Transportation Operations Manager, Mike Thompson, and got the skinny.
Remember, back a few years ago, when the MDOT replaced the Union St. Bridge, and had parts of Union Street blocked off, so they could take the bridge apart and completely rebuild it? Well, that's what's on the books to happen after the new year, but on the Ohio St. side. Thompson said the project would start up some time after February 24th, 2020 and wrap up about 7 months later, on August 31st of the same year. The good news, for folks who travel up and down that route, is that they don't plan to do full lane closures until the summer months, so as not to affect the school bus routes. But there will be some detours set up around 15th and 16th streets.
Thompson also says, that in typical MDOT fashion, there will plenty of forewarning and lots of informational signs up to help motorists navigate their way through and around the bridge project. So consider yourself warned, and maybe take some time to think ahead about some possible alternate routes, so you're not caught off guard when the project starts this spring!