BELFAST — The Maine Department of Transportation plans to improve the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and Route 52 in Belfast. Bids on the project will be opened Wednesday.

Plans call for reconstruction of parts of the existing intersection to provide a protected storage lane for traffic waiting to turn left across Route 1 and for reconstruction of the Route 52 approaches, including replacement of existing traffic islands. Those parts of the intersection not being reconstructed will be repaved.

A new traffic signal is included in the plan. The new system will be traffic-actuated, with signal sequences responding to traffic movement over detector loops buried in the pavement on approaches to the intersection.

Plans also call for installation of a temporary signal to regulate existing traffic flow from the opening of the new school on Route 52 later this year until completion of the reconstruction and activation of the permanent signal system. The temporary signal also will be traffic-actuated.

A timetable for the start of work on the project will be established by the DOT and the contractor after the bids have been reviewed and the contract has been awarded. DOT specifications call for completion of the project by mid-June 1993.