MADAWASKA, Maine — October 24, 2023 — Work on the Madawaska-Edmundston bridge, as seen here in late October, is nearing completion. Officials say the bridge will be closed Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week to accommodate construction for ports of entry. (Chris Bouchard | St. John Valley Times)

MADAWASKA, Maine — The Madawaska-Edmundston Bridge, which connects Maine and New Brunswick, will be closed to daytime vehicle traffic from Tuesday to Thursday this week, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. 

The bridge will be closed for paving work on the Canadian side of the bridge from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pedestrian traffic will still be able to access the bridge and port of entry during these hours.

The bridge is about 100 years old, according to the department of transportation. It was posted at five tons in 2017, which means that large trucks have had to travel an extra half hour to cross at the Fort Kent and Van Buren borders.

Officials have also been working on a new bridge that will connect the two countries. In 2021, Woolwich-based contractor Reed & Reed was awarded a $86,532,251 contract to build the bridge. The total project, which includes demolishing the old bridge after the new one opens to traffic, is $97.6 million. $36 million of this cost is covered by a grant from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, while the remaining costs will be shared by Maine DOT and the New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Greg Letourneau, a senior superintendent at Reed and Reed, said in October that work on the bridge was slightly ahead of schedule. Much of the work now consists of removing formwork, a mold in which concrete or similar materials are cast. 

Though the new bridge is nearly finished, it will not be open to traffic until work on the new Madawaska port of entry is finished and reconstruction of the Canadian port of entry is complete. 

According to the United States General Services Administration, traffic should be able to use the port and cross the new bridge by early next year. 

Paul Hughes, regional public affairs officer for the GSA’s New England Region Office of Strategic Communication, said the port will be substantially completed by mid-January and traffic will be able to use the port by mid-March. 

When the bridge first opens, Hughes said it will be done with lane restrictions to allow contractors to demolish the existing abutment on the Canadian side.

“Large vehicle traffic would breach either the opposing lane or sidewalk while exiting the bridge on the inbound lane to the [Canadian port of entry],” he said. “The new bridge will therefore be open with the same five-ton weight restriction that is in place for the existing bridge to eliminate this hazard.”

The Canadian port of entry’s inbound lane will then be straightened and widened after a retaining wall is installed roughly a month after the bridge initially opens. 

The weight restriction on the new bridge is expected to be lifted in early May of next year.