MEXICO – Many people at Tuesday night’s hearing on the design for a new Webb River Bridge were pleased there would be two-lane traffic during construction late this summer.

Engineer Dale Mitchell of HNTB Corp. design firm in Westbrook said traffic flow was a major concern raised during a public meeting in November. Building a temporary bridge between Mexico and Dixfield will assure that two lanes of traffic will be available for the project’s duration, he said.

The cost of both bridges will be about $4.1 million, including roadwork on the Mexico side of the bridge.

The well-worn Webb River Bridge was built in 1931, and is 33 feet wide. Its replacement will be 48 feet wide and include two 12-foot lanes, two 8-foot shoulders, and a 5-foot sidewalk slightly downstream from its location now. It will be 105 feet long and built slightly higher to allow for floodwaters.

The bridge is just above the confluence of the Webb and Androscoggin rivers.

A portion of Route 2 from the bridge to the Mexico-Peru Bridge will also be widened and somewhat leveled, particularly at the crest near the intersection with Leavitt Street. A sidewalk from the Mexico-Peru Bridge to the Webb River Bridge is also planned, although that suggestion met with some resistance.

Town Manager John Madigan said maintenance of the proposed sidewalk could be costly for the town, while Tony Rowe, owner of Rowe’s Delite, said construction of the sidewalk would be a waste of money.

Dixfield Town Manager Eugene Skibitsky learned from engineers that costs to relocate his town’s sewer line, which crosses the Webb River under the bridge, will not be paid by the Maine Department of Transportation. “That’s a significant project. We don’t have the money saved up for that,” he said.

HNTB engineers will take comments from the two dozen or so people at Tuesday’s meeting and produce a final design within the next couple of months.

Plans are to put the project out for bid in July, with construction to start in late August. Bridge work will continue through the winter, then road work will resume in the spring.

Questions about the project may be directed to MDOT project manager Leanne Timberlake at 624-3422 or e-mail [email protected]