UPDATE: Due, in part, to the weather forecast and increasing traffic volumes, this traffic shift is now being planned for June 7. The shift was initially scheduled for June 4, but was rescheduled due to forecasts of inclement weather.

HAMPDEN — The Maine Department of Transportation will be shifting northbound I-95 traffic onto the first of eight new interstate bridges in Hampden on June 7. This new bridge, the East Bridge, crosses the Souadabscook Stream. Heading north, it is the third of the four bridges MaineDOT is replacing on the northbound side of the interstate as part of the Hampden Bridge Bundle Project. Northbound traffic remains diverted to temporary bridges constructed in the median of the interstate at the other three bridge locations. Northbound traffic will be shifted to new bridges at these locations later this year.

Interstate speed limits are reduced to 55 MPH throughout the length of this project. Drivers are encouraged to drive cautiously, observe signage in the work zone, and obey work zone speed limits.

“The safety of our crews and contracting partners is MaineDOT's top priority,” said MDOT, in a news release.

The Hampden Bridge Bundle Project involves rebuilding eight bridges and rehabilitating a ninth bridge along a four-mile stretch of I-95 in Hampden. The eight bridge replacements are happening on both the northbound and southbound sides of the interstate at four sites between Exits 174 and 180. Three of these bridge pairs cross the Souadabscook Stream and one pair crosses Emerson Mill Road and the Central Maine & Quebec Railway. The one bridge rehabilitation involved with this project is happening at the Exit 180 off-ramp on Cold Brook Road over I-95.

The contractor on the Hampden Bridge Bundle Project is Cianbro Corporation. The contract amount is $44.8 million. The estimated completion date of the project is November 30, 2022.