AUGUSTA (AP) – The state has decided to spend $20 million in repairs on the 2,100-foot Memorial Bridge over the Kennebec River including a new deck, paint and structural repairs instead of replacing it.

The announcement, which was made Wednesday, surprised several members of an advisory group looking into options for the bridge. Sever members of the board claimed the state Department of Transportation has ignored suggestions.

“This is really disturbing to me,” said Kim Davis, an advisory board member. “This is not a fair and open process.”

Opened in 1949, the two-lane Memorial Bridge is a main thoroughfare across the Kennebec River. The bridge sits between traffic circles that also have been evaluated for possible new configurations.

Wayne Frankhauser, a transportation department engineer who will oversee the repairs, said repairs will include a new deck and steel reinforcing devices to support the bridge’s weight, Frankhauser said.

The repairs could extend the bridge’s life by about 30 years. A new bridge would have cost about $41 million, Frankhauser said.

The transportation department wants to begin the rehabilitative work in 2005 after a new bridge opens in Augusta.

Contractors expect the repairs to last three to four months if the bridge is closed. If work is only done on nights and weekends, the work would take as many as five months. And if the bridge remains open during while the work is done, officials said repairs could last as many as 10 months.

The bridge is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The transportation department is bound by historic preservation regulations that require the two-lane bridge to retain a 1950s look after the renovations.

AP-ES-04-08-04 0837EDT