MEXICO – Residents of the Mexico/Dixfield area will have a chance Tuesday night to learn about and comment on the proposed design of a new Webb River Bridge between the two towns.

Project manager Leanne Timberlake of the Maine Department of Transportation said construction of the nearly $4 million bridge is tentatively scheduled to begin in the late summer or early fall of this year. She said completion would be sometime in 2010.

The 70-year-old narrow bridge carries more than 10,000 vehicles a day over the Webb River. The Webb flows into the Androscoggin River.

Timberlake said during construction two-way traffic will be maintained, which is a major reason the initial estimated cost of nearly $3 million, including a quarter mile of road work on the Mexico side, has been increased to nearly $4 million.

“The impact to traffic would be too much,” Timberlake said of a previous suggestion that just one lane of traffic be open at all times.

A temporary bridge, or staging, will be built to allow two lanes of traffic to flow simultaneously. The proposed bridge will be built about 15 feet farther downstream than the current structure and will be about 10 feet longer.

The new bridge will include two 12-foot lanes and two 8-foot shoulders for a total width of about 40 feet. The current bridge is more than 24 feet wide.

The design proposal also calls for construction of a sidewalk on the downstream side of the bridge. The existing bridge has sidewalks on both sides.

The public hearing begins at 6 p.m. at the Mexico Town Hall.