Renovations on Piscataqua River Bridge in Kittery may finish 2 months early
Courtesy / MDOT
The Piscataqua River Bridge, whose median was under reconstruction in this photo, typically carries 78,000 vehicles a day between Maine and New Hampshire.
Renovation work on the Piscataqua River Bridge, the primary gateway between Kittery and Portsmouth, N.H., will be done two months ahead of schedule, the Maine Department of Transportation said Monday.
The bridge project contractor, SPS New England Inc. of Salisbury, Mass., will be conducting final road striping operations in the next few weeks. All physical work on the span is expected to be complete next week, according to a news release.
The $52.6 million construction project started in May 2019 and was scheduled to finish by this May. Lower-than-normal traffic volume during the pandemic has allowed for a faster schedule.
The 4,500-foot-long arch bridge, which carries Interstate 95 across the river at a height of 135 feet, opened in 1972. But the bridge was beginning to deteriorate. "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," MDOT said.
The construction work will also allow MDOT to add an intelligent transportation system to the bridge, permitting part-time use of the roadway shoulder during peak travel times. That project is expected to continue until April 2023.
The estimated total cost for the bridge project, including engineering, police coverage and communications, is $61.8 million.
During normal times, about 78,000 vehicles cross the Piscataqua River Bridge every day, and in the summer, that daily traffic number can climb to 130,000 vehicles.
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