AUGUSTA — The state Department of Transportation will begin work Sunday night on repaving all four lanes of Western Avenue from Edison Drive to Memorial Circle.
Also, beginning July 6, the southbound exit 109B off Interstate 95 will be closed for about 30 days of reconstruction work. Southbound traffic that normally would use that exit to reach Western Avenue instead will be directed to use exit 109A, which allows traffic to get off the interstate and travel in either direction on Western Avenue.
Crews will begin the Western Avenue repaving project Sunday by installing signs and catch basins, lowering manhole covers and performing other preparatory work.
Work on the project will be done at night — from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. — to limit disruptions to traffic on the heavily traveled state road.
“Anytime we do night work, it’s in order to have the least impact on motorists,” DOT spokesman Ted Talbot said. “There is a high traffic count there during the week.”
The project is a repaving project, not a full rebuild, and should take considerably less time to complete than recent work between Edison Drive and Prescott Road.
Talbot estimated the project could take around three weeks, though because it involves paving, rainy weather could force it to proceed more slowly.
Following initial preparatory work, crews on July 6 are expected to begin milling the pavement surface, with paving to follow.
Lane closures will occur once paving starts.
Drivers should expect slight delays when traveling through the area, officials warned.
Reconstruction of the exit 109B offramp, which also begins July 6, is expected to take about 30 days.
The offramp’s intersection with Western Avenue will be realigned, in an effort to reduce the number of accidents there.
The ramp now comes into Western Avenue on a curve and ends with a yield sign. It will change to connect to Western Avenue at a 90-degree angle, with a full stop required before drivers pull onto the road.
A study of accidents at the site indicated that between 2011 and 2013, there were 91 crashes on the offramp, according to John Rodrigue, a DOT project manager. Many of the accidents, he said, are rear-end accidents.
The roughly $335,000 project also will seek to improve sight lines at the intersection by cutting down some trees next to a nearby highway overpass. Also, a new pedestrian crossing is planned.
“We know it’s an inconvenience, which we regret, but the detour shouldn’t be too burdensome,” Talbot said of the closure of the offramp so it can be rebuilt. “It will increase traffic flow at the surrounding exits.”
Keith Edwards — 621-5647
kedwards@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @kedwardskj
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