SABATTUS — After a visit by state and local officials, Smith Bridge is slated for repairs this fall and up for possible replacement.
State Rep. Stacy Dostie, D-Sabattus, said the annual spring flooding of Fisher Stream has worn away at the bridge on Bowdoinham Road to the point she worried it was a safety hazard. She invited Department of Transportation Commissioner David Cole out to the site Wednesday.
Dostie has been in touch with the MDOT over the bridge for a year. She said she was “surprised and very happy” when Cole announced during the visit that it would get fixed.
MDOT spokesman Mark Latti said Friday that the repairs this fall would take about four weeks at a cost of $30,000.
“The repairs will be to the curbing and the guardrails,” he said. “The bridge is structurally sound for travel.”
Dostie said site work would close it down to one lane.
“It’s quite heavily traveled,” she said, with 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles a day.
People driving from Bowdoinham, Richmond and Lisbon use the road to get to Lewiston-Auburn.
Latti said the bridge is a candidate for replacement in the MDOT’s 2014-15 budget. Replacing Smith Bridge would cost an estimated $500,000.
kskelton@sunjournal.com
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