CANAAN — The Route 23 bridge over the Carrabassett Stream will be closed this summer for as long as 42 days as work goes forward on a replacement.
The bridge is located about three miles south of U.S. Route 2 and has been the site of many accidents, two with fatalities, over the past 14 years. The Maine Department of Transportation moved up the timetable for construction at least a year after hearing emotional testimony from residents about the dangerous bridge. Wayne Frankhauser Jr., DOT project manager, said a bid on the project is scheduled to be awarded by the end of the month. Work should begin fairly soon after that in order to meet a completion date of Nov. 15. The new bridge will be about 30 feet wide, six feet wider than the existing structure. It will be 80 feet long, almost three times as long as the current 27-foot-long bridge. Perhaps the biggest safety improvement will be to the approach from the south. Currently, drivers have to negotiate a curve that is nearly invisible until the last moment because of a hill. Work this summer and fall will shave off that hill and soften the curve. Both fatal accidents occurred when drivers drove into the stream after losing control on the curve. Frankhauser said the work is designed to eliminate the blind curve. Closing a bridge for 42 days is "a little unusual," Frankhauser said, but not unprecedented. DOT officials had originally planned to stage construction to keep one lane of the bridge open at a time, or to put a temporary bridge in place on one side. At the most recent public hearing on the issue, however, Canaan officials offered the use of local roads if the DOT closed the bridge during construction. Route 23 connects U.S. Route 2 in Canaan to Hinckley. A number of local roads can be used to detour around Route 23 and several connect to it at different points, providing access for residents and emergency vehicles. "We checked around and nobody had any strong objections to it so that is what we plan to do," Frankhauser said. Frankhauser said closing the bridge would save money and time, making it more likely that the bridge will be completed on time. The estimated total cost of the bridge, including engineering is about $900,000. Alan Crowell — 474-9534, Ext. 342 acrowell@centralmaine.com
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