NEW SHARON – The closing of a bridge over Muddy Brook on Main Street is going to be inconvenient and push more traffic to a dangerous intersection on Route 2, selectmen’s Chairman Jim Smith said Wednesday.

Barricades went up Wednesday closing the 145-foot-long bridge – it was built in 1929 – to traffic. Local traffic will be allowed to go as far as the bridge on either side of the road.

The bridge is not repairable and it’s being closed for the foreseeable future, Maine Department of Transportation spokesman Herb Thomson said Wednesday.

It won’t be known if the bridge closure will be permanent or if a new one will be built until an evaluation is done, he said.

The bridge carries fewer than 300 motor vehicles per day plus some winter snowmobile traffic.

The New Sharon Snow Riders Club will need another way across Muddy Brook to get to Farmington, club President Sam Adams said Wednesday.

DOT engineers made the decision to close the bridge in the interest of public safety after an inspection Monday revealed that one of the bridge piers had tipped, but hadn’t fallen over, since the last inspection.

The pier supports the bridge, and it in turn is supported by wood pilings driven into the ground that have deteriorated, Thomson said.

The bridge is one of 288 recently identified by the DOT as at risk for weight restrictions or closure within 10 years unless they were repaired or replaced.

Selectmen learned about the closing Wednesday morning on television news.

DOT stated in a release that attempts to notify town officials were slowed because the town office was closed. The DOT said it left a message for the road commissioner Tuesday.

The closing is a big deal to New Sharon residents, Smith said.

Now, more people will have to use the “dangerous intersection” at Route 2, Main Street and Starks Road that has been the scene of some serious accidents, Smith said.

People who live on the other side of the bridge on Main Street will be able to access Route 2 from the intersection near Weeks Mills Road.

It is the second bridge on Main Street to close since last summer.

The old iron bridge that formerly carried traffic on old Route 2 across Sandy River was closed by the DOT for safety reasons. There is a new bridge on Route 2 that runs parallel to the old bridge.

Smith said he wished the DOT had consulted with town officials before closing it.

“We really can’t argue with them if they have engineers that say the bridge is dangerous,” Smith said, but added he will discuss it with fellow selectmen.

The bridge is a relatively low priority for the state because of its low volume of traffic. Other, more heavier traveled bridges need repair, and there are alternate routes for local people to use in New Sharon, Thomson said.

Smith said he felt bad for snowmobilers because they will need a new way to cross the brook.

The town’s general store also relies on snowmobilers stopping by, Smith said, and with the closure, the downtown village is isolated from snowmobiles.

Adams believes the snowmobile club will have to relocate the trail and move it to the other side of Route 2 then build a bridge across Muddy Brook.

“It is a very, very busy connector trail and the main trail that goes to Farmington,” Adams said.

“We knew it was getting bad; I think a lot of people did,” Adams said of the bridge, “but we didn’t know it was that bad that it needed to be closed.”