KITTERY - Road crews will be striping lanes on the Piscataqua River (I-95) Bridge tomorrow night into Friday morning. Work on the southbound side will begin around 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Crews will move to the northbound side several hours later. Striping will be finished before sunrise on Friday. This work will require multiple lane closures and traffic pattern changes. The northbound striping work will involve the temporary closure of the Exit 7 on-ramp in Portsmouth. Traffic will be detoured to the Route 1 Bypass. Signs for this detour are already posted as a truck detour.
Even though traffic volumes on the bridge remain down about 35 percent, we still ask that drivers pay attention and drive carefully in construction work zones. Lanes are narrower, and our crews are working close to traffic. We continue to appreciate the patience and understanding of the members of the traveling public as we work on these important safety improvements. For the latest information, visit buildingabettergateway.com, and follow @MaineAheadNews on Facebook and Twitter.
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The "Maine Ahead: Building a Better Gateway" project is a collaboration involving the Maine Department of Transportation, the Maine Turnpike Authority, and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. The goal of the project is to revitalize and rehabilitate the travel corridor that welcomes millions of commuters, travelers, and freight drivers to Maine every year. The initiative focuses on two major construction projects on the I-95 corridor: the Piscataqua River Bridge and the York Toll Plaza. The toll plaza work involves safety improvements and the ability to allow highway-speed tolling. The bridge work will extend the life of the bridge, add needed safety improvements, and prepare the structure for potential breakdown-lane travel during peak travel periods.
In 2018, 37 million tourists visited Maine a 33-percent increase from 2012 tourism numbers. During normal times, 78,000 vehicles cross the Piscataqua River Bridge every day, and in the summer, that daily traffic number can climb to 130,000 vehicles. More than 15 million transactions occur at the York Toll Plaza each year. In 2019, on Labor Day weekend alone, nearly 250,000 transactions occurred at the York Toll Plaza, with 187,000 being captured electronically.