Two major road closures will soon be impacting Falmouth and commuters.
Veranda Street, under the Veranda Street Bridge, will be closed from 2 p.m. Monday, April 18 to 2 p.m. April 25. Access to Veranda Street will require a significant detour and is expected to cause traffic delays around Route 1, Bucknam and Middle roads.
Interstate 295 over the Veranda Street Bridge will be closed from 7 p.m. April 22 to 11 a.m. April 25, causing major delays on routes 1 and 88, Middle, Lunt and Bucknam roads, and the turnpike in Portland. All northbound and southbound traffic will either be directed to the spur or through Falmouth at Exit 9 Northbound and Exit 10 Southbound.
During construction, the aging Veranda Street Bridge will be replaced, a safer intersection with Veranda Street will be built, lanes for bicyclists and pedestrians will be added and drainage problems will be fixed. The work was originally set for October but had to be pushed back due to COVID-related supply chain shortages.
The state chose to go with accelerated bridge construction at a cost of $20.8 million, so the project that would typically take months or years will be done in less than one week, according to the Maine Department of Transportation.
To alleviate congestion at major intersections on Route 1 and Middle Road, from April 22-25, Depot Road will be closed between Route 1 and Route 88, and Falmouth Road will be closed between Lunt Road and Middle Road. Local residents will still have access.
These closures will also impact Metro bus service in Falmouth. There will be no inbound or outbound Route 7 service on Veranda Street from April 18-25, and there will be no inbound Route 7 service along Route 1 between Clearwater Drive and Washington Avenue from April 22-25. More information and alternate routes can be found at gpmetro.org.
More information on the Veranda Street closures, including a livestream of the construction, detour routes, frequently asked questions and an updated project schedule, are at verandaplan.org.
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