AUGUSTA — The Rines Hill Bridge, which carries Water Street over the Maine Central Railroad track, reopened to two-way traffic Wednesday, wrapping up a project that imposed a detour on the south end of Augusta’s downtown.
During construction, which started in the spring of 2023, only one lane of northbound traffic remained open. The route is a well-traveled way for vehicle traffic to travel into the capital city’s historic downtown neighborhood. The open lane of northbound traffic was preserved to allow fire or rescue vehicles access to downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.
The Maine Department of Transportation awarded the bid for the $5.2 million project — to replace the bridge that was built more than nine decades ago — to New England Infrastructure Inc. of Hudson, Massachusetts.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
We invite you to add your comments, and we encourage a thoughtful, open and lively exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. You can also read our FAQs. You can modify your screen name here.
Readers may now see a Top Comments tab, which is an experimental software feature to detect and highlight comments that demonstrate compassion, reasoning, personal stories and curiosity, and encourage and promote civil discourse.
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.