AUGUSTA — Starting Monday, drivers traveling eastbound on Western Avenue toward Augusta to get onto Interstate 95 will have to find a new route, as the on-ramp will be closed as part of a $30 million project to replace the bridge that carries Western Avenue over the highway.

Motorists coming into Augusta from Manchester and beyond on Western Avenue, which is also U.S. Route 202, will have two or three options, depending on whether they plan to head north or south on I-95. Each alternate route will be marked with detour signs, officials said.

Officials anticipate some traffic impacts and delays, especially in the first few days as motorists find their new routes, but are taking steps to notify the public and put up detour signs to direct motorists.

The biggest impact will be on eastbound Western Avenue drivers who need to go northbound on I-95. They’ll have two main detour options, both of which involve traveling past the closed on-ramp, going farther up Western Avenue, reversing direction, and coming back down Western Avenue to use the westbound on-ramp, which will remain open.

The two options for reversing direction are: Turning right onto Senator Way toward Target, then looping around on Crossing Way, back to Western Avenue; or going past that option to the Meadow Road intersection, by Damon’s Pizza and Italians, turning left at the traffic light onto Meadow Road, then following the reverse-direction signs onto Fuller Road to loop back onto Meadow Road, then right onto Western Avenue westbound back to the Exit 109 interchange.

“Northbound traffic gets looped around, that’s the largest impact, that traffic has to loop around and use the westbound on-ramp,” said Devan Eaton, project manager for Maine Department of Transportation. “Folks who are familiar with the area shouldn’t have any issues, and there should be enough signs there for those who aren’t. It may take a little bit, but people should pick it up pretty quickly.”

Paul Merrill, public information officer for the Maine DOT, said the department has issued news releases, targeted social media, and sent a notice out to state workers because many of them likely drive through that area on their commute.

Eastbound motorists on Western Avenue who want to go south on I-95 have a third option, a new temporary interchange on Whitten Road, where they can get onto I-95 southbound. The interchange was expected to open Friday in anticipation of the lane closure Monday. The interchange, on the same route as a previous temporary interchange used during a bridge repair project in 2018, will allow traffic to flow freely onto and off the highway, with temporary stop signs in place on Whitten Road at the new temporary intersection.

Construction workers prepare a temporary Interstate 95 interchange Thursday on Whitten Road in Augusta. Traffic on I-95 is seen at bottom. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The ramp closure is necessary while crews build a temporary bridge that will handle traffic during construction of the replacement bridge. The ramp closure is expected to last 30 days or less. A new, realigned on-ramp will take its place. The new ramp will be moved east, off the Western Avenue Bridge, and made shorter and with a sharper angle, both meant to make the intersection where traffic merges safer. Eaton said the on-ramp there is a higher crash location, with rear-end crashes occurring as motorists approach the merging area. Moving the turning lane for the ramp off the bridge also allowed more space to improve sidewalks for pedestrians, and shortens the pedestrian crossing on the on-ramp.

“We’re trying to slow traffic down on that ramp, slowing folks down should allow for better sight distance for everybody,” Eaton said. “And pushing that lane separation off the bridge saved us some bridge width and allowed us to have a much better pedestrian facility.”

The project is expected to add 1,350 feet of new sidewalk along Western Avenue and Whitten Road, improving pedestrian access and safety.

Beginning Nov. 18, the southbound interstate exit ramp at Exit 109B will also close. Southbound traffic will still be able to use Exit 109A to get off the interstate and onto Western Avenue in both directions.

When the switchover to the temporary bridge takes place, likely in late November, motorists will no longer be able to turn left from the westbound side of Western Avenue onto Whitten Road, as that intersection will be moved to make room for construction equipment. The left-turn lane currently there will return once the project is done.

This photo taken Thursday shows progress of construction work on the new bridge to carry Western Avenue over Interstate 95 in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

During that time, westbound Western Avenue motorists looking to get onto Whitten Road, which provides access to the Hannaford supermarket there as well as several businesses in the Turnpike Mall, will use the southbound on-ramp for I-95 to access the temporary Whitten Road interchange.

On-site construction for the project started in November 2023, but so far that work has primarily been under the existing bridge and ramps, with minimal traffic impacts.

The contractor for the project is Reed & Reed, of Woolwich.