PORTLAND — The Maine Department of Transportation is beginning construction work on the replacement of the Veranda Street Bridge in Portland. The bridge carries I-295 over Veranda Street. The structure is 60 years old and needs to be replaced, according to MDOT, in a news release. This project also involves a reconfiguration of the roadways beneath the bridge to improve mobility and safety.

Crews will begin mobilizing equipment and doing utility work during the week of March 8. There will be minimal traffic impacts on Veranda Street and no traffic impacts on the interstate at this time.

This project will eventually involve a 60-hour closure of I-295 in order to facilitate accelerated bridge construction. Crews will construct the new bridge on the east side of the existing bridge and then slide the new structure into place during the 60-hour closure. The contractor on this project, Cianbro, has until May 1 to select whether the weekend for this full interstate closure will be in October of this year or April of 2022.

In addition to the closure of I-295, Veranda Street will be closed for up to seven days during the time of the bridge slide. MaineDOT will be conducting significant public outreach efforts in the coming months about these closures and the detours that will be available to drivers.

The contract for construction is $18.1 million. The total project cost (including engineering and design work) is approximately $20.8 million.

“We aim to have this project completed by the end of 2022,” said MDOT.