By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

More than $6 million in federal money could go a long way toward making a new Lewiston-Auburn downtown interchange a reality.

That money, approved by Congress last week, should pay for designs and engineering work for a proposed downtown interchange, said Don Craig, director of the Androscoggin Transportation Resource Center.

The overall project could cost more than $30 million depending on what the Maine Turnpike Authority and the Maine Department of Transportation decide to do.

“Depending on the project, we’ll also be considering some road upgrades for the local streets leading up the interchange,” Craig said. Friday’s federal allocation could help pay for that work as well, Craig said.

Congress passed a six-year highway spending bill Friday that earmarks $1.1 billion for Maine transportation projects. Local transportation officials were still going over the plan Tuesday finding out what local projects made the cut.

So far, the Maine package includes $18 million for a Calais-to-Watertown, N.Y., east-west highway corridor project, $15.8 million for improvements along Interstate 295 between Portland and Augusta, and $1 million for work on Route 26 between Bethel and Oxford.

Having part of the money for a new Twin Cities interchange puts more pressure on the project, Craig said.

“We can’t say just where any money will be allocated until have a design strategy,” he said.

In February, the Transportation Resource Center wrapped up two years worth of work, settling on two ideas for an interchange and recommending building another bridge for local traffic.

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

The Turnpike Authority and the Department of Transportation are studying those ideas to find out which makes the most sense environmentally. That’s expected to take a year.