Be Prepared For a Major Road Closure Coming Soon on I-295 in Portland and Falmouth

If you're going to be taking I-295 through Portland and Falmouth in a month expect a big detour as the Maine DOT will be closing it for a full weekend.

Construction has been going on for some time in the area of Veranda Street in Portland to replace the Veranda Street bridge on I-295. To minimize the closure time of I-295, the bridge has been constructed next to the old one and will be swapped out over a weekend in October with what's called a "lateral slide technique" where the old bridge is torn down and the already constructed replacement is slid into its place. It's a pretty impressive way to replace a bridge.

To accomplish this amazing feat of engineering, I-295 will be closed from Exit 8 at Washington Avenue in Portland to Exit 10 at Bucknam Road in Falmouth beginning Friday, October 22 at 7 p.m. and ending on Monday, October 25 at 11 a.m.

Your best option may be to take the Maine Turnpike instead of I-295, but detour signs will be in place to guide you. You can likely expect some delays getting through the construction area.

Want more information? Well, the legendary Lee Nelson took some time off from his modeling gig to explain it all with pictures and fancy charts and graphs in this video from the Maine DOT.