The Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall replica will be on display to the public from Friday, Sept. 28, to Sunday, Sept. 30.

For details on Sunday’s motorcycle escort route, go to https://www.sunjournal.com/conezone/ for an online map.

Roads closed for Vietnam Wall escort
The replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is scheduled to arrive about 1 p.m. Sunday

LEWISTON – As many as 2,000 motorcyclists plan to lead a replica of the Vietnam Veterans wall into Lewiston-Auburn Sunday, creating a series of intersection and road closures as they arrive.

“There is not going to be gridlock,” promised Jason Moen, Auburn’s deputy chief of police.

In some cases, intersections may be closed for only 15 minutes while the procession passes, Moen said.

In other cases, downtown streets will be closed for hours. In Auburn, Main Street will be closed from Elm to Court streets for about four hours, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Court Street, from the Union Street Bypass to Longley Bridge, will be closed from about noon until 1:30 p.m.

Some of the closures are designed for the spectacle that will likely be created when the motorcycles enter. Ladder trucks from the Lewiston and Auburn fire departments plan to suspend an American flag above the street.

Riders from across Maine, including the Patriot Guard, Rolling Thunder and several uniformed police, plan to gather around 10 a.m. Sunday at the York weigh station on the Maine Turnpike.

At the station, the riders will be asked to pay their tolls – $3 for the route to Auburn – and will be given a bracelet to wear.

Any motorcyclist may join the group, said Paul Potvin, an organizer of the procession and the events coordinator for L-A Harley-Davidson in Lewiston.

His company plans to send a truck and trailer with the cyclists in case of breakdowns. United Ambulance also plans to accompany the group.

The procession is scheduled to leave York around 11 a.m. When the cyclists reach New Gloucester around noon, a small portion of Lewiston streets will begin to close.

Police will shut down Lincoln Street, from Chestnut to Main. As the escort gets closer, Lewiston police will change the one-way Mill Street, which runs through the Bates Mill complex, to a two-way street. The escort motorcycles will park in the empty lot near the corner of Main and Lincoln streets.

The timing of the closures will be tied to the progress of the motorcade, said Lewiston police Sgt. David Chick.

The procession could stretch for 5 to 7 miles.

The route into the city will be carefully watched by police, with intersections blocked off as motorcycles and the 3/4-size wall replica – packed into a single tractor-trailer – approaches.

For most people, the traffic disruption ought to last an hour or less, Chick said.

The route is scheduled to leave the turnpike in Auburn and head northbound on Washington Street. The motorcycles will turn right onto Minot Avenue, following it until they reach Court Street, where they will take another right, following the downtown street to Longley Bridge and Veterans Memorial Park, where the wall will be assembled.

Throughout Auburn, police plan to close intersections as the motorcyclists pass, Moen said.

“We’re really not sure how long it will take,” he said.

Once all of the motorcycles arrive, a 15-minute service is planned. A local singer, Cindy Rogers, is scheduled to sing the national anthem. Then the motorcyclists will be invited to attend a free spaghetti dinner at the Lewiston Armory on Central Avenue, prepared and donated by a variety of local restaurants. Police plan to close off parts of the surrounding streets to allow for parking.