The Ticonic Bridge, viewed from Winslow and looking toward Waterville, is on the Maine Department of Transportation’s list of projects to be addressed 2021-2023. Its replacement price tag is a hefty $40 million. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel file

If you’re wondering whether the roads on your commute to work, or if you’re working from home, the road to the grocery store, is due for a fix, the Maine Department of Transportation may have your answer.

MDOT recently released a searchable database as part of its three-year work plan, where anyone can view projects slated for 2021-23 organized by the municipality.

“Years and years ago, our work plans used to be in print version and only distributed to policymakers and such,” MDOT Commissioner Bruce Van Note said in a phone interview. “We realized, to take a spoof on Tip O’Neill’s saying ‘All politics is local,’ well, all transportation is local, too.”

MDOT has released a similar database each year since 2013. There are plenty of central Maine projects included in the report. Listed here are some of the big-ticket items from Augusta to Pittsfield, airport projects and bridges. The finances include all sources of funding, including federal, state and municipal dollars as well as grants. Given the pandemic, there is some fluidity to these plans,

“We came up with this work plan process so people could see what we are doing the next three years, and through our website, can go back and see what we’ve done,” Van Note said. “The DOT’s work plan process is often perceived as just a group of projects. And of course, it is, but it’s really an assembly line that just keeps going.”

Here’s a look at projects around central Maine.

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WATERVILLE

Eight projects are estimated to cost more than $1 million. The biggest of these is the $40.5 million replacement of the Ticonic Bridge between Waterville and Winslow in 2022 and 2023. The Robert LaFleur Airport will see a $6.28 million safety and infrastructure improvement in 2021. The Interstate 95 northbound and southbound bridges spanning Webb Road just north of the Sidney town line and midway between exits 124 and 127 will be replaced for more than $4.5 million each in 2022 and 2023.

AUGUSTA

Runway and taxiway reconstruction at the Augusta State Airport will be accomplished in 2021 at a cost of $3.35 million. Multi-million-dollar bridge construction is slated for 2022-2023 with the replacement of Rines Hill Bridge over the old Maine Central Railroad coming in at $4.45 million and the replacement of the Western Avenue bridge over Interstate 95 is expected to cost $8.5 million.

BELGRADE

In 2022 a project described as a mitigation effort to offset impacts to wells will cost $2 million. The project includes a groundwater investigation.

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CHINA

In 2022 and 2023, the MDOT plans to address a large culvert on U.S. Route 202 near the intersection of Pond Road. The work, which is estimated to cost $515,000, includes highway safety and spot improvements in addition to culvert improvements.

CLINTON

The Manley Holt Bridge is expected to be replaced to the tune of $2.1 million in 2022 and 2023.

FAIRFIELD

State Route 139 will get $2.93 million of work in paving and other improvements. More than 5 miles of the route will get attention in 2022 and 2023.

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SIDNEY

State Route 104 will see improvement this year, as a $920,000 project will resurface and pave the road for more than 5 miles beginning just north of the Augusta town line.

SKOWHEGAN

U.S. Route 2 West will get $660,000 worth of work in two projects. The first, which is slated for this year, is 6.37 miles of surface and base maintenance. The second and larger project involves work at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Commercial Street. Residents will see safety and spot improvements, as well as signal improvements in 2022 and 2023.

VASSALBORO

U.S. Route 201 will get some assistance later this year, with $941,000 worth of work. New pavement will be laid beginning at the Augusta line and expanding northward for more than 4 miles.

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WINSLOW

Two $1 million-plus projects are slated in the next few years. A $1.1 million project will provide paving and filling on Benton Avenue beginning at the Clinton Avenue intersection and expanding north for approximately 0.70 miles. In 2022 or 2023, $1.91 million will go toward a replacement of the Fish Bridge over Winslow Stream near the Benton line.

NORRIDGEWOCK

The Central Maine Regional Airport has three different projects on the docket totaling $859,000 for a multiphase, three-year effort focused on safety and infrastructure improvements through field investigations, studies and research.

PITTSFIELD

The municipal airport in 2021 will receive nearly a million dollars worth of infrastructure improvements, which may include a six-bay hanger.

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Bridgework on Interstate 95 going through Pittsfield is also on the docket for the area in 2022-23. The Sebasticook River Bridge spanning southbound over Interstate 95 will receive $4.38 million in rehabilitation work. Also slated to receive rehabilitation work is the southbound North Main Street Bridge over Madawaska Avenue at $2.6 million. The bridge deck of the northbound North Main Street Bridge will be replaced for $1.18 million. The bridge deck of the southbound State Route 152 and Maine Central Railroad bridge over State Route 152 will be replaced for $2.93 million.

Van Note said the coronavirus pandemic impacted the planning process in a few ways. Fewer people are driving, so fuel tax revenue is not as high. However, interest rates are so low, bonding and federal funding allows the organization to move forward.

With the public database, everyone who wishes can see what’s happening down the line, and at what cost.

“We just like people to be able to see where their money is going so they can ask questions,” Van Note said. “That’s why we do it this way.”

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