AUGUSTA – State officials are looking for potential sites for a new Interstate 95 rest area to replace one that was closed to make way for a road connecting to a new bridge over the Kennebec River.

Some locations for a new rest area are being scouted near the junction of the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 295 in West Gardiner.

Identifying possible sites for new rest areas in the Augusta area and elsewhere in the state is part of a larger need that was identified in a 2003 study of truck transit in Maine, said Department of Transportation spokesman Herb Thomson. One of the conclusions of that report, Thomson said, was that Maine needs more rest areas for trucks that travel the state’s highways and roads.

“Closing that rest area takes out one,” Thomson said. “This really is something we’re beginning to look at as to how to address the needs identified in that study.”

The rest area near mile 113 off Interstate 95’s northbound lanes in north Augusta was closed in the fall with the November opening of a connector road that links I-95 to a new bridge that crosses the Kennebec River and connects to Route 3.

Officials decided to keep the rest area closed because reopening it would have created traffic conflicts between cars and trucks coming onto the highway from the connector road and those trying to exit into the rest stop.

“The new ramp to get on the interstate from Route 3 comes across in an area where you also have to decelerate into the rest area. Where you have vehicles decelerating and accelerating, it causes you to have a lot of crashes,” said Stephen Landry, assistant state traffic engineer.

The rest area’s building and septic system also were aging and due to be replaced, Landry said.

“It’s a small facility with parking for only two trucks. It wouldn’t have been worth the investment to put in a new type of septic system on the same footprint,” he said.

He said a rest area on the southbound side of the highway is newer and in better condition.