BANGOR – The Maine Department of Transportation is planning to replace a small bridge on Route 2 over the Penjajawoc Stream and could close part of the road for up to three months next summer.

DOT officials held a public meeting Monday to outline its intention to replace a 16-foot span known locally as “Red Bridge.”

Project manager Devin Anderson explained that the current bridge is 72 years old and structurally deficient. It has been on the DOT’s list of replacements since the last inspection cycle and now has been approved for $750,000 in funding. Of that funding, 80 percent will come from federal dollars and the rest will be state-funded.

The plan, Anderson said, is to demolish the current overpass and build on the same site. That would require the road to be shut down for several weeks, although a firm decision has not been made.

“We’re still debating about whether we’ll reduce traffic to one lane or close the road and detour traffic,” Anderson said.

If the road is closed, motorists heading from Bangor to Veazie and vice versa on Route 2 would be detoured from State Street to Hogan Road to Mount Hope Avenue and back to State.

Jim Ring, city engineer for Bangor, attended Monday’s meeting and expressed concerns about the project related to the impact of a detour and environmental matters. The bridge runs over the Penjajawoc Stream, an ecologically sensitive waterway that feeds into the Penobscot River.

Ring said the stream “has a lot of interest to a lot of folks” who have been embarking on an ambitious plan to improve the quality of the stream.

Anderson and Bob Ellena, a design engineer for the bridge replacement, said they have begun looking at environmental considerations and don’t anticipate any residual effects from replacing the bridge.

“We’re not looking to change a lot there,” Ellena said. “It’s going to look pretty much the same.”

erussell@bangordailynews.net

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