With the winter snow melted and summer days ahead, construction season is well underway in Maine, and so is the Department of Transportation’s $3.2 billion three-year work plan.

The 2022-24 work plan includes more than 2,300 projects and a significant boost in funding thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will infuse an average of $66 million into Maine DOT’s budget over the next five years.

“All these developments point to the promise of a more optimistic, proactive future for transportation in Maine. With that said, such a future is dependent upon further clarification regarding goals, costs and funding — all of which are in a state of flux right now,” DOT Commissioner Bruce Van Note wrote in the introduction to the work plan.

Every year, Maine DOT releases a three-year plan. While the timing of the current year’s projects are pretty much set, the timing of the following two years may change depending on funding and other factors.

“Maine DOT intends to use 2022 to evaluate these and other factors, conduct a reset and emerge from this period of uncertainty with an updated and proactive plan for transportation in 2023,” Van Note said.

In the tri-county region, the largest projects scheduled for this year are:

• In Androscoggin County, replacement of Tracy Brook Bridge on Route 125 in Durham where it crosses Meadow Brook, at an estimated cost of $3.44 million.

• In Franklin County, reconstruction of Saddleback Mountain Road where it begins at Dallas Hill Road in Dallas Plantation and extends 4.7 miles south into Sandy River Plantation, at an estimated cost of $3 million.

• In Oxford County, extension of the runway at Eastern Slope Regional Airport in Fryeburg to allow aircraft to operate under wet conditions, at an estimated cost of $3.61 million.

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