LEWISTON, Maine — Beginning Monday and for the next 142 days, the city of Lewiston is working to add a second water pipeline that would carry fresh water from Lake Auburn into Lewiston.
The city has an old water pipeline that is over 130 years old. It's used to carry drinking water from the Lake Auburn Water Treatment Plant (LAWTP) through the city of Auburn and under the Androscoggin River into Lewiston, and it's all happening through the Longley Bridge.
For almost a decade now, Lewiston has been exploring alternatives to provide another redundant pipeline to bring water into the city.
The project will most likely impact traffic in both directions of the Longley Bridge since one of its lanes will be fully closed for the duration of the first phase of this project.
Lewiston Public Works Director Kevin Gagne said the addition will support an existing, outdated pipeline.
Gagne added that people who drive through this bridge area should expect back-ups and delays in both directions.
"So coming from Auburn into Lewiston, the right-hand lane will be taken up during the whole time of the project. That's so they can set up their staging under the bridge and install the pipe. We are going to keep that traffic control set-up for the duration of the project so the people are used to that lane closure and it is safe for the construction and the contractor," Gagne said.
According to Gagne, the city is using federal funding to help cover the cost of the project.
"Our residents, our businesses, our industry all rely on it, we have two regional hospitals here, so getting drinking water to the city 24/7 is critical. If during the flood of December, if that flood had been more damaging, we could have risked our existing water line, our existing crossing, and that could have put the city out of water and would have been an emergency response to try to put some new pipes over the bridge temporarily or some other workaround," Gagne said.
Gagne said he has updated navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze to reflect the pipeline project and to offer drivers possible alternative routes.