The bridge on Route 1 in Woolwich just north of the Taste of Maine restaurant is being replaced. Photo courtesy of Devan Eaton
Work is underway on the $33.5 million replacement of the so-called Station 46 Route 1 bridge in Woolwich. The existing 675-foot bridge begins near the Taste of Maine Restaurant and carries Route 1 over the railroad and the Pleasant Cove marsh.
Work includes building a new 120-foot bridge over the inlet to Pleasant Cove, a location prone to flooding, according to an announcement by Woolwich-based construction firm Reed & Reed, which is working under a contract from the Maine Department of Transportation. The project also includes the reconstruction and raising Route 1 between the two bridges to prevent flooding.
“We are pleased to build this key project right in our backyard,” Reed & Reed Chairman & CEO Jackson Parker stated in a press release. “Reed & Reed widened and rebuilt that same bridge in 1980 so we are happy to upgrade it once again. Some of our employees who worked on that 1980 project are still with us and I’m sure they will be back on the project this time.”
The company began work in January building a detour south of the existing bridges to accommodate traffic, then will demolish the existing bridge and build the new three-span 620-foot Station 46 bridge and the new Pleasant Cove Bridge on the existing Route 1 alignment.
The entrance to George Wright Road near the dike will be closed for the duration of the project and a traffic signal will be installed at the intersection of Route 1 and Nequasset Road to accommodate vehicles entering and exiting Route 1 from George Wright Road. The new bridges are scheduled to be open to traffic in the fall of 2024 with final completion in 2025.
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