KINGFIELD – A proposed reconstruction project on a Kingfield bridge will be the subject of a public hearing Friday night.

The 20-foot wide, 131-foot-long Norton Bridge that takes traffic over the west branch of the Carrabassett River has been labeled “an accident waiting to happen” by a state transportation official. It’s just a stone’s throw north of downtown Kingfield on Route 27, the main thoroughfare to Sugarloaf ski resort.

Each day, the bridge supports an average of 6,000 vehicles a day, a “surprisingly high” traffic count for such a rural area, MDOT project manager Wayne Frankhauser said.

Some of the traffic comes from back-and-forth traffic from the downtown, south of the bridge, to a row of businesses including a gas station, lumber yard/hardware store, a cafe and flower shop, a doctor’s office, bed and breakfast, the town’s only grocery store and several others on the northern end.

The bridge was not built with the growth of the town considered, Frankhauser said, adding that traffic counts projected for 20 years down the road put the average daily vehicle count at 8,000.

Goldilocks proposal

The most problematic traffic is heavy logging trucks, which Frankhauser said sometimes leaves “little wiggle room” for cars traveling in the opposite direction.

“There really is no margin for error there right now,” he said. “If something hasn’t happened, it’s just a matter of time. There have certainly been lots of close calls.”

MDOT’s plan is to widen the bridge to 32 feet of travel way, including two 11-foot lanes and five-foot shoulders. The bridge would be expanded in length to 164 feet and the curve would be straightened. There would also be a 5-foot raised sidewalk on one side of the bridge, and a sidewalk built on the bridge’s approach.

Thirty-two feet is a compromise, Frankhauser noted, that takes into account the urban quality of the area and public concern that widening the bridge too much would cause traffic to speed over the bridge and into town. Currently, the bridge serves almost as a speed check for drivers heading south into the heart of Kingfield. “Our proposal is not too wide, but not too narrow,” he said.

If the bridge was just a mile north or south, MDOT would widen it to have a 40-foot travel way.

The total estimated cost of the project, which is scheduled to commence in spring of 2005, is around $2 million, with an 80-20 split between federal and state funding.

Major construction would then continue through the fall of 2005 and then minor work would be done again in the summer of 2006.

During the project, Frankhauser said the road would be open to one-way alternating traffic, controlled either by a flagger or traffic light.

Frankhauser said the public hearing is a chance for residents to air their concerns about the project, before the final plans are decided. After the hearing, there will be a two-week comment period where MDOT will accept comments on the plan.

“This meeting is really about getting the public buy-in,” he said. “We are here to balance all of the issues. But, our number one concern is for the safety of motorists.”

Plans of the project are available in the Kingfield Town Office.

For more information or to make a comment, call Wayne Frankhauser at 624-3454.

[email protected]