With the initial project completion two months ahead of schedule, the shoulders of both the Northbound and Southbound sides will now be used during peak times to reduce congestion, improve safety, and enhance mobility—all without expanding the existing footprint of the roadway.
General expected times of operations for the system are from Memorial to Columbus Day:
The system will be managed and operated from the Transportation Management Centers (TMC.) Traffic sensors will alert TMC Operators of any changing traffic conditions, and 100% traffic camera coverage will be used only for monitoring current traffic conditions.
Service Patrol will drive the project limits before activation. State Police are expected to be active and close by to assist, if needed.
Project completion is expected in June 2023.
The Piscataqua River Bridge project will accomplish two goals; it will provide the necessary improvements to keep it going for another 50 years and at the same time, prepare it for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow a fourth lane opening on the bridge during peak travel periods.
The Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), in collaboration with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT), will manage the project. The bridge is expected to be under construction from spring 2019 until summer 2022, with a tentative completion date of May 2022.
KITTERY – The Maine Department of Transportation plans to complete all construction work on the Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge in Kittery two months ahead of schedule.
The bridge project contractor, SPS New England, will be conducting final road striping operations in the coming weeks. All physical work on the bridge is expected to be finished by the end of March.
The goal of this project has been to improve safety and mobility on Maine’s most important bridge and preserve the structure for another 50 years of use. Construction work on this project started in May 2019 and was scheduled to be finished by May 2022. Lower-than-normal traffic volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed for a faster construction schedule.
This bridge construction work has prepared the structure for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow part-time shoulder use during peak travel times. This ITS project is expected to continue until April 2023.
The construction contract on the bridge project was $53 million. The estimated total cost for the bridge project (including engineering, police coverage, and communications) is $61.8 million.
The Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge project is part of the “Maine Ahead: Building a Better Gateway” project – a collaboration involving MaineDOT, the Maine Turnpike Authority, and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. The goal of the project is to revitalize and rehabilitate the travel corridor that welcomes millions of commuters, travelers, and freight drivers to Maine every year. The initiative focuses on two major construction projects on the I-95 corridor: the Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge and the York Toll Plaza. The toll plaza work involves making safety improvements and creating the ability to allow highway-speed tolling. The bridge work will extend the life of the bridge, add needed safety improvements, and prepare the structure for breakdown-lane travel during peak travel periods.
In 2018, 37 million tourists visited Maine – a 33-percent increase from 2012 tourism numbers. During normal times, 78,000 vehicles cross the Piscataqua River Bridge every day, and in the summer, that daily traffic number can climb to 130,000 vehicles. More than 15 million transactions occur at the York Toll Plaza each year. In 2019, on Labor Day weekend alone, nearly 250,000 transactions occurred at the York Toll Plaza, with 187,000 being captured electronically.
For the latest information, visit www.buildingabettergateway.com, and follow @MaineAheadNews on Facebook and Twitter.
The Maine Department of Transportation will be closing travel lanes on the Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge in Kittery next week to accommodate overhead sign work.
Between Monday, January 24th and Thursday, January 27th, the contractor plans to close the left lane on the southbound side between 7:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. and the right two lanes on the northbound side between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
In addition to these closures, there will be intermittent rolling roadblocks, which may slow both north and southbound traffic. These closures will be necessary to maintain the safety of the crews as they work to install the overhead signage. These closures will begin in New Hampshire near mile marker 15.
The northbound Exit 1 and Exit 2 off-ramps will experience night closures during this time, but both off-ramps will never be closed at the same time.
As with all outdoor construction work, this schedule is heavily dependent on the weather.
The goal of this project is to improve safety and mobility on Maine’s most important bridge and preserve the structure for another 50 years of use. This work is also preparing the bridge for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow part-time shoulder use during peak travel times.
This project started in May 2019 and is expected to be finished by May 2022.
Crews continue to conduct striping and bridge joint work on the Piscataqua River (I-95) bridge. The contractor is planning to make the following traffic changes to accommodate work on the bridge and its approaches.
Northbound:
Southbound:
There will also be temporary on- and off-ramp closures to accommodate striping work. These closures will happen at Exits 2 and 3 on the Maine Turnpike and at Exit 7/Market Street in New Hampshire. The closures should be relatively short.
There will be no work on the project on Veterans Day – Thursday, November 11th.
As with all outdoor construction work, this schedule is heavily dependent on the weather.
The goal of this project is to improve safety and mobility on Maine’s most important bridge and preserve the structure for another 50 years of use. This work is also preparing the bridge for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow part-time shoulder use during peak travel times.
This project started in May 2019 and is expected to be finished by May 2022.
KITTERY – Crews continue to conduct striping and bridge joint work on the Piscataqua River (I-95) bridge. The contractor is planning to make the following traffic changes to accommodate work on the bridge and its approaches.
Northbound:
Southbound:
There will also be temporary on- and off-ramp closures to accommodate striping work. These closures will happen at Exits 2 and 3 on the Maine Turnpike and at Exit 7/Market Street in New Hampshire. The closures should be relatively short.
As with all outdoor construction work, this schedule is heavily dependent on the weather.
The goal of this project is to improve safety and mobility on Maine’s most important bridge and preserve the structure for another 50 years of use. This work is also preparing the bridge for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow part-time shoulder use during peak travel times.
This project started in May 2019 and is expected to be finished by May 2022.
Crews continue to conduct striping and bridge joint work on the Piscataqua River (I-95) bridge. The contractor is planning to make the following traffic changes to accommodate work on the bridge and its approaches.
Northbound:
Southbound:
There will also be temporary on- and off-ramp closures to accommodate striping work. These closures will happen at Exits 2 and 3 on the Maine Turnpike and at Exit 7/Market Street in New Hampshire. The closures should be relatively short.
As with all outdoor construction work, this schedule is heavily dependent on the weather.
The goal of this project is to improve safety and mobility on Maine’s most important bridge and preserve the structure for another 50 years of use. This work is also preparing the bridge for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow part-time shoulder use during peak travel times.
This project started in May 2019 and is expected to be finished by May 2022.
For the holiday weekend, there will be 3 lanes open for traffic on the Piscataqua River Bridge from Friday morning, October 8th through Tuesday night, October 12th.
The following lane closures are scheduled to take place to accommodate paving work. These closures are subject to change pending weather conditions:
Northbound
Southbound
As always, please drive safely and adhere to posted speed limits, and use extreme caution while navigating work zones. Thank you for your patience and cooperation as our teams work hard to complete this important work
Final paving operations on the Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge in Kittery are scheduled to continue next week. This part of the “Maine Ahead” project remains approximately six weeks ahead of schedule. Final paving had originally been scheduled for early 2022. The contractor, SPS New England, is now planning to make the following traffic changes to accommodate final paving work on the bridge and its approaches.
Northbound:
Southbound:
As with all outdoor construction work, this schedule is heavily dependent on the weather. There will be no traffic closures between the morning of Friday, October 8th through the evening of Tuesday, October 12th.
The goal of this project is to improve safety and mobility on Maine’s most important bridge and preserve the structure for another 50 years of use. This work is also preparing the bridge for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow part-time shoulder use during peak travel times.
This project started in May 2019 and is expected to be finished by May 2022.
This week on the Piscataqua River Bridge, the following lane closures are scheduled to take place to accommodate paving work. These closures are subject to change pending weather conditions:
Northbound:
Southbound:
Thank you for your patience and cooperation as our teams work hard to complete this important work. As always, please drive safely and use extreme caution while navigating work zones and adhere to posted speed limits.
KITTERY – The Maine Department of Transportation will be closing the I-95 northbound Exit 7 on-ramp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for five days next week to accommodate continued paving operations on the Piscatacqua River (I-95) Bridge and its approaches. The Exit 7 on-ramp will close at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 26th and reopen by 7:00 a.m. on Friday, October 1st. There will be a signed detour route and a police presence. This ramp closure is necessary to increase safety for our crews and members of the traveling public.
This part of the “Maine Ahead” project remains approximately six weeks ahead of schedule. Final paving had originally been scheduled for early 2022. The contractor, SPS New England, is also planning to make the following closures to accommodate final paving work on the bridge and its approaches.
The northbound right lane will close during the following periods:
The northbound middle lane will close during the following periods:
The southbound right lane will close during the following periods:
The southbound middle lane will close during the following periods:
As with all outdoor construction work, this schedule is heavily dependent on the weather.
The goal of this project is to improve safety and mobility on Maine’s most important bridge and preserve the structure for another 50 years of use. This work is also preparing the bridge for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow part-time shoulder use during peak travel times.
This project started in May 2019 and is expected to be finished by May 2022.
Final Paving on Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge in Kittery
KITTERY – Final paving operations on the Piscatacqua River (I-95) Bridge in Kittery are scheduled to begin next week. This part of the “Maine Ahead” project remains approximately six weeks ahead of schedule. Final paving had originally been scheduled for early 2022. The contractor, SPS New England, is now planning to make the following closures to accommodate final paving work on the bridge and its approaches.
The northbound left lane will close during the following periods:
The northbound middle lane will close at 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 21st and reopen by 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 22nd.
The southbound left lane will close during the following periods:
The southbound middle lane will close at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 23rd and reopen by 4:00 a.m. on Friday, September 24th.
As with all outdoor construction work, this schedule is heavily dependent on the weather.
The goal of this project is to improve safety and mobility on Maine’s most important bridge and preserve the structure for another 50 years of use. This work is also preparing the bridge for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow part-time shoulder use during peak travel times.
This project started in May 2019 and is expected to be finished by May 2022.
The “Maine Ahead” project on the Piscatacqua River (I-95) Bridge in Kittery is entering its third and final year on time and on budget. This project is improving safety and mobility on Maine’s most important bridge and will preserve the structure for another 50 years of use. This work is also preparing the bridge for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) project, which will allow part-time shoulder use during peak travel times.
Work on the new bridge joints is finished, the bridge deck is 79 percent complete, the barriers are 49 percent complete, and the paving work is 43 percent complete. To date, crews have placed 3,400 cubic yards of concrete and used 417,000 pounds of steel. This project started in May 2019 and is expected to be finished by May 2022.
During the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, all six travel lanes (three on each side) will be open to traffic from Thursday, May 27th at 6:00 p.m. through Tuesday, June 1st at 5:30 a.m.
AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Transportation will be assisting the New Hampshire Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority with a virtual public meeting to discuss the ongoing “Maine Ahead” project on the Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss capacity improvements to the interstate during peak travel times by allowing travel on the low-speed shoulder as needed. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. and will be conducted via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/95253526733?pwd=S3hiNmhOcS9URlRFaURQZHBubU0xUT09. Presentation materials and the meeting link will be located on the NHDOT website: https://www.nh.gov/dot/projects/portsmouthyork16189b/index.htm.
KITTERY – The Maine Department of Transportation and its contracting partners will be closing the left travel lanes on both sides of the Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge on Sunday, February 28th. Crews will close the left lane on the northbound side at 7:00 p.m. and the left lane on the southbound side at 10:00 p.m. These closures are happening to accommodate work on bridge joints. We expect both left travel lanes will remain closed until the bridge joint work is finished in May.
Additionally, crews will be closing the middle lanes on both the northbound and southbound sides nightly between Sunday, February 28th and Friday, March 5th.
Traffic volumes on the bridge remain down between 20 and 25 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. That drop in traffic has created safer working conditions for our crews and contractors. Decreased traffic levels have also helped our productivity. We will no longer need to close the northbound Exit 7 on-ramp as originally planned.
We want to remind drivers to pay attention and drive carefully in construction work zones. Lanes are narrower, and our crews are working close to traffic. We continue to appreciate the patience and understanding of the members of the traveling public as we work on these important safety improvements.
PORTSMOUTH – As part of the ongoing work to make safety improvements on the Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge, crews will be closing the Exit 7 northbound on-ramp overnight tonight. The ramp closure is scheduled between 7:00 p.m. tonight and 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Traffic will be diverted to the signed truck detour route that is currently in place. This closures is necessary to ensure the safety of work crews and the traveling public during a traffic shift.
This bridge work is part of the “Maine Ahead” project, which involves the Maine and New Hampshire Departments of Transportation as well as the Maine Turnpike Authority. The improvements on the Piscataqua River Bridge and at the York Toll Plaza will revitalize Maine’s southern gateway. High-speed tolling will be available in York, and part-time shoulder use will be an option on the bridge.
Drivers should obey work-zone speed limits and be alert and careful while passing our crews. Our primary focus is the safety of both our crews and the traveling public.
KITTERY – Work on the Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge will result in significant lane closures and traffic shifts next week to accommodate median work. This median work is expected to continue until October 2021.
Beginning at 5:30 a.m. on Monday, November 16th, crews will be closing the southbound right travel lane. The contractor will close another lane at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 17th to accommodate a traffic shift. The southbound side will be back open to two lanes by 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 18th. The southbound left travel lane on the bridge will remain closed. Crews will open the bridge to three lanes (closer to the outside edge of the bridge) by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20th.
The northbound right travel lane is already closed. The contractor will close another lane at 10:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20th to accommodate a traffic shift. The northbound side will be back open to two lanes by 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 21st. The northbound left travel lane on the bridge will remain closed. Crews will open the bridge to three lanes (closer to the outside edge of the bridge) by 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 21st.
Like all outdoor construction work, this schedule is heavily dependent on weather conditions.
This bridge work is part of the “Maine Ahead” project, which also involves the Maine Turnpike Authority and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. The improvements on the Piscataqua River Bridge and at the York Toll Plaza will revitalize Maine’s southern gateway. High-speed tolling will be available in York, and part-time shoulder use will be an option on the bridge.
Drivers should obey work-zone speed limits and be alert and careful while passing our crews. Our primary focus is the safety of both our crews and the traveling public.
Fall is officially here, and with reduced traffic on the Maine Turnpike and the Piscataqua River Bridge, our team can spend more time getting needed repairs accomplished. This means that you might see more lane closures during specific times – always with an eye toward keeping traffic moving as smoothly as possible while also keeping our workers safe. Beginning Monday, October 19th, at 6:00 a.m., the right, northbound travel lane will be closed over the Piscataqua River Bridge to accommodate shoulder widening and paving. This closure is expected to last approximately two to three weeks. Also, please remember to use additional caution at Exit 7 in New Hampshire as traffic merges onto the bridge.
All six lanes will be open on the Piscataqua River Bridge for at least the next two weeks. Remember: if you’re visiting Maine, please make sure to go to www.maine.gov/covid19/ for details on testing and self-quarantine guidelines for out-of-state visitors.
Beginning on Monday, February 24th, the “Maine Ahead” project will begin a new phase of safety improvement work on the Piscataqua River Bridge. Crews will be replacing bridge joints that date back to the original construction of the bridge a half-century ago.
This phase of joint replacement work will require the right travel lane to be closed on the southbound side of the bridge. This closure will restrict the southbound side of the bridge to two lanes. It will not be reopened to three lanes until this phase of the joint replacement work is complete.
In a few weeks, we will begin joint replacement work on the northbound side of the bridge as well. This work will require a similar right travel lane closure on the northbound side. We need to close these lanes to be able to work on the bridge joints. These traffic restrictions are also necessary for the safety of our crews and the traveling public.
We hope to be able to reopen these travel lanes as soon as this phase of the bridge joint replacements is complete, but these traffic restrictions could last through mid-May. We are committed to keeping three lanes of travel open on both sides of the bridge during peak travel periods (between mid-May and the day after Labor Day).
We continue to appreciate the patience and understanding of the members of the traveling public as we work on these important safety improvements.
TRAFFIC UPDATE:
The Southbound right lane on the Piscataqua River Bridge will be closed from 6am on Monday, October 21st through 2pm on Friday, October 25th. A Northbound lane will also be closed from the NH side of the bridge through mile marker 2, as well as the exit 7 entrance ramp, from 9pm through 7am each night through 10/25.
Additionally, we will be closing the Exit 1 off-ramp in Maine beginning on Thursday, October 24th. This ramp will remain closed for the duration of the project which is projected to be substantially complete in October of 2021.
Thank you for your patience!
LANE CLOSURE: A southbound lane on the Piscataqua River Bridge will be closed from 6am on Wednesday, October 16th through 2pm on Friday, October 18th. The Exit 7 entrance ramp to I-95 Northbound will also be closed on Wednesday Night (10/16) to layout pavement markings & barrier.
From 9pm through 7am, an I-95 northbound lane will also be closed from the NH side of the bridge through mile marker 2. These closures will occur on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights (October 15th-18th) to install traffic signs and pavement markings. Thank you for your patience!
TRAFFIC UPDATE: During the week of August 4th, crews will be closing one lane on I-95 from Mile 2 southbound across the Piscataqua River Bridge. The lane closure will be AT NIGHT ONLY (from 7 pm – 5 am) Monday through Thursday. Hydro demolition begins this week, which unfortunately is a noisy process. This will continue for two weeks. After those two weeks, only regular construction noise is anticipated. We apologize for the inconvenience.
The Exit 1 southbound on-ramp at Dennett Road in Kittery will be closed indefinitely beginning Tuesday, June 18th at 7 p.m. This is being done to accommodate the work on the Piscataqua River Bridge. In addition, the following lane closures will take place on the Piscataqua Bridge the week of June 17th.
There will be lane closures Monday through Friday nights starting at 7 p.m. and going until 3:30 a.m. the following morning. The lane closures will be in the southbound lanes only. By 7 p.m., traffic may be restricted to two lanes and by 10 p.m., traffic could be restricted to one lane.
The contractor will be re-stripping the lanes from Exit 2 in Maine and across the bridge to the New Hampshire side. During these hours, the contractor will also be installing temporary concrete barriers to close the shoulder on the Maine approach to the bridge.
We will begin setting up traffic control devices and adding temporary striping, with the assistance of the Maine and/or New Hampshire State Police
We will begin installing signs and setting up message boards with the assistance of the Maine and/or the New Hampshire State Police
Working on access to the site on the Kittery side
Work is expected to begin in June. Check back for more details soon!
