PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Department of Transportation announced Wednesday it is postponing the planned closure of I-295 over Veranda Street in Portland. The closure was originally planned for Columbus Day weekend so that crews could replace the bridge with a new one.
Joyce Taylor, Chief Engineer for the Maine Department of Transportation, said the postponement is due to damaged geofoam blocks needed to finish building the new bridge.
"With all the resin shortages that are going on around the country... it's been tough to get them, so in order to replace some of the blocks that did get damaged we're just not confident that we're gonna get them in time," Taylor said.
In a press release, the Maine Department of Transportation said, "The impact to the public will be the same: it will just happen on a different weekend. At this point, we do not have a new date for the closure weekend. We expect to be able to schedule and announce a new date soon. The project is still on track to be completed by the end of 2022."