MEDWAY – One of the major concerns about replacing the old bridge on Route 116 is that the new bridge should be wide enough to accommodate snowmobile traffic safely.

Department of Transportation officials are gathering information before they develop preliminary plans for future improvements or replacement of the 66-year-old bridge, which spans the West Branch of the Penobscot River.

About 30 people turned out for the DOT’s meeting last week. Their major concern was snowmobile access. Some residents said the bridge crossing is vital for snowmobilers gaining access to one of the major trails, but the current bridge is very narrow, making it hazardous to cross, especially if other vehicles are traveling across it at the same time.

Robbie Farrington, president of the East Branch Sno Rovers Club, said the bridge is preventing some snowmobilers from using the Interconnecting Trail System because they did not want to cross the bridge. “The deck of that bridge is terrible to go across with a snowmobile,” he said.

DOT officials urged residents to contact Scott Ramsey at the Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Lands at 287-4956 regarding their concerns about the bridge project, including accommodations for snowmobile traffic.

Joel Kittredge, the DOT’s project manager, and Robert Bulger, the project design engineer, said the current steel truss bridge, which has an open steel deck, is about 20 feet wide.

Officials said the old truss bridge likely would be replaced with a new steel girder bridge, similar to the new Route 157 bridge. The new bridge would be about 30 feet wide, with two 11-foot concrete travel lanes and 4-foot wide shoulders on each side.

Bulger said the bridge’s federal highway sufficiency rating is 30.9, which is low and indicates it needs replacement. The steel grid flooring is in poor shape. The average annual daily traffic count is 3,270 vehicles.

Bulger said the preliminary design report is expected to be complete by August 2002. A hearing on a proposed plan is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2002, with advertising for bidders to begin in October 2004. Construction would begin in January 2005 and is expected to be complete by April 2006.

Once construction begins, officials said traffic would be maintained on the existing bridge. They see no need for a detour. DOT officials also said the project likely would require some widening of the roadway approach to the bridge.

Residents asked whether a new bridge project would include replacing the existing lights. Kittredge said his experience has been that existing lights are replaced.

Other residents asked DOT officials to consider ways of making the approach to the bridge wider in an effort to alleviate the safety concerns of snowmobilers. Some residents asked DOT officials to consider repositioning and realigning the new bridge so a new road would go behind the homes that are there.

DOT officials said they want to minimize the right-of-way impacts to residences. Officials said they will consider the concerns but made no promises.

Robert Farrington Sr., a resident, said the bridge is posted to allow only one truck at a time to cross it, yet he often sees more than one truck on it at a time. He asked whether the bridge was structurally safe for more than one truck at a time. Bulger said the reason it was posted for only one truck at a time is because of its width and not because of structural concerns.

Residents with questions about the project should contact Joel Kittredge, project manager at the Maine Department of Transportation, Bridge Program, Child Street, 16 State House Station, Augusta 04333-0016.