AUBURN – People who live in Ward 5 will get a special look today at plans for a new turnpike interchange.

Ward 5 City Councilor Belinda Gerry is hosting a special presentation at 7 p.m. at Sherwood Heights Elementary School.

Don Craig, director of the Androscoggin Transportation Resource Center, will be on hand to discuss the plans.

“It’s very important for people from my ward to attend this and tell me what they think,” Gerry said. “What they tell me will influence how I vote on this in the future.”

The resource center has been studying where to put a new interchange for more than a year. The two most controversial options, which involved putting a turnpike exit around South Main Street in New Auburn, have been removed. The remaining six options will be reviewed and studied by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Two plans call for building a full interchange, either on Auburn’s Riverside Drive or on Lewiston’s River Road. A third plan would put a full interchange on the Auburn side and a half interchange across the river on River Road. The half interchange would let traffic to or from the south enter or exit there.

The next three plans also call for building an intercity bridge over the river, probably between the interchange and South Bridge. That bridge, combined with the three interchange possibilities, make up the final three suggestions.

It is expected to take take 18 months to two years to complete all of the studies.

What: Ward 5 turnpike meeting

When: Thursday, Nov. 18

Where: Sherwood Heights Elementary School