MOUNT DESERT — The Maine Department of Transportation is replacing Babson Bridge, which carries Route 3 and Route 198 over Kitteredge Brook located 0.09 miles East of Route 102 in Mount Desert.

On-site clearing operations began on Monday, March 17. This clearing was necessary to construct a temporary detour which will carry traffic throughout the project's duration. While the contractor is on-site conducting clearing operations and construction of the temporary detour, traffic on Route 3 may be reduced to a single lane of alternating, one-way traffic maintained by flaggers between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

On-site construction of the new bridge will begin on Tuesday, August 5 and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2027. Construction will take place Monday through Friday between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. No weekend work is planned. Throughout construction there will be a lane width restriction of 11 feet.

The contractor for this project is T-Buck Construction of Turner. The contract amount is approximately $5.2 million.