AUBURN – The future of the South Main Street bridge over the Maine Turnpike will be the topic Thursday night at Auburn Hall.

The Maine Turnpike Authority is hosting a discussion about repairs to the bridge. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Auburn Hall’s third floor community room.

The bridge has been closed since January, when a flatbed truck carrying an excavator struck the side of the bridge. Nobody was hurt in the crash, but turnpike officials deemed the bridge too unsafe to keep it open.

Traffic has been detoured onto Witham Road, to Broad Street, to Hackett Road and to Old Danville Road and back to south Main Street.

The 53-year-old bridge was scheduled to be rehabilitated in 2008, but the Turnpike Authority plans to get the job under way this spring because of the damage. According to plans, the project would end in late fall.