RICHMOND
Federal and state officials announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award $10.8 million in grant funding to help replace the 80-year-old bridge that spans the Kennebec River between Richmond and Dresden.
This competitive grant funding is provided through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, according to a press release from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, RMaine.
According to Collins, the total cost to replace the bridge is estimated to be $ 24.9 million. The TIGER funding, along with existing federal funds, would pay for about 50 percent of the project’s cost, with the state covering the other half. The state estimates a new bridge could be in place by December 2015.
“I was truly alarmed to see firsthand the deteriorated condition of the Richmond- Dresden Bridge when I recently visited,” stated Collins, who serves on the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. Collins toured the bridge, formally known as the Kennebec Bridge, on Dec. 2 with Maine Transportation Commissioner Dave Bernhardt and local officials.
“It is an understatement to say that the time has come to replace and modernize this 80- year- old bridge, which is a critically important transportation link in this area,” she continued in the release. “When I spoke to (U.S. Transportation) Secretary (Ray) LaHood and urged his department to give full consideration to the application, I stressed that this will be a true partnership at the local, state and the federal levels.”
In a release issued by the MDOT, Bernhardt stated, “ This is an important project that has been a very high priority, and I want to thank Sen. Susan Collins for her dedication and tenacity in helping to ensure this bridge received the additional funding, and realizing safety is the first concern for all of us.”
“This is great news for the state and the thousands of drivers who cross that bridge every day,” said U.S. Rep Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, in a separate release about the federal funding for the bridge. “With crumbling concrete supports and rusting girders, there’s no doubt that this bridge needs to be replaced. Maine roads and bridges are absolutely critical to connecting our rural communities, getting people safely to their destinations, and allowing businesses to operate.”
State Sen. Seth Goodall, D-Rich- mond, said in a statement that, “Thanks to the time and effort put forth by Sen. Collins and Congresswoman Pingree, our communities will benefit from this critical investment of state and federal dollars to our infrastructure.”
Goodall also thanked the area residents who attended last week’s forum on the bridge, adding, “This is a key investment to our local economy — one that will create jobs for Maine people and improve the safety of an important road in the region.”
Residents attend meeting
Approximately 100 Richmond and Dresden residents attended a meeting about the bridge project last Wednesday. Some who attended that meeting voiced concerns that a proposed fixedspan bridge to replace the swinging Kennebec Bridge would pose problems for nearby property owners.
“This project supports all the ongoing downtown revitalization efforts of Richmond,” Richmond Town Manager Marian Anderson wrote Monday in an email to The Times Record. “The construction of the new bridge also supports Richmond’s goal to enhance safe bicycle, pedestrian and marine travel,” and is a “successful example of local, state and federal partnering.”
Anderson said the Richmond Board of Selectmen is also appreciative of Collins’ personal visit to the bridge, “and her commitment to all communities in Maine ‘big or small.’ We sincerely, thank her for her support.”
According to Pingree’s release, the MDOT says construction would begin in spring 2013 and is scheduled to finish in 2015. The replacement bridge would be built alongside the current one.
According to the MDOT, “officials plan to replace the bridge, built in 1931, with a span high enough to allow marine traffic to pass safely underneath. Currently, about 3,200 vehicles use the bridge daily.”
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