The lay of the land has been changing for the area where Kennebunk meets Kennebunkport over the past few months as the old Mathew J. Lanigan Bridge (originally built in 1933) has been removed – and a new version of the bridge is now being constructed in its place.
The Ogunquit Barometer happened to be on site on March 21, 2017 – as the first beam for the new bridge was delivered and put into place.
Here’s some video of the process:
And – moving back in time – here’s some video we took on January 6, 2017 inside of the former bridge operator’s house, which apparently was being gutted of its outmoded equipment – before being removed from the site:
Construction of the new Mathew J. Lanigan Bridge began in late December and is expected to be fully completed by Memorial Day, 2017. The new bridge will be wider and will include six-foot sidewalks on both sides. There will also be a cantilevered viewing outlook at the center of the bridge on both sides.
The $2.7 million project is being done in stages to accommodate the tourism economy of the region:
- Beginning Monday, December 26th through March 4th, Route 9 traffic over the bridge will be reduced to one lane of alternating traffic signals will regulate traffic movement so that the contractor can begin work on the upstream side of the abutment across the street from the Clam Shack. The contractor will also work on the other side of the Kennebunk abutment as well as build a temporary pedestrian bridge.
- March 5th – mid-April accommodates a full closure of the bridge and Route 9 traffic in that vicinity. This period of full closure will allow the contractor to complete the majority of the work at an accelerated pace.
- Mid-April to Memorial Day – The bridge will return to one lane of alternating traffic until the project is completed in late May.
All construction work is weather-dependent so the schedule may change.
