By Suzanne Hodgson

Staff Writer

Downtown Kennebunk business owners have questioned what will happen to their businesses when Route 1’s Mousam River Bridge is closed this fall.

On Thursday, the Maine Department of Transportation met with business owners and residents to lay out plans for a temporary bridge and answer any other questions about bridge reconstruction.

“The (current) bridge is functionally obsolete by today’s standards,” said Don Ettinger, a consultant for the Maine DOT.

Ettinger, explained the bridge was originally built in 1921, widened in 1968 and at this point was structurally deficient by DOT codes.

The current bridge is 90 feet long and 42 feet wide from the curbs.

Ettinger said the full bridge replacement will go to bid in August with construction beginning around September or October, with the project being completed a year later, although some cleanup may still be taking place into spring 2012.

Many who spoke at the meeting were happy the construction would only affect one summer season and praised Town Manager Barry Tibbetts for helping develop an acceptable plan.

 Maine DOT will take out all the granite blocks that form the bridge’s buttresses, donating the old blocks to Kennebunk Public Works Department per their request.

While the outside of the bridge will be demolished, what’s under the bridge, or inside, must be saved. Ettinger estimated there were roughly 350 cables and 4,000 copper wires from Fairpoint communications, Time Warner Cable and Kennebunk Light and Power that must be redirected permanently or temporarily while demolition and construction take place.

One consideration yet to be determined is pedestrian traffic. Ettinger did not know if the temporary bridge would include sidewalks.

Ettinger confirmed the DOT was looking to put a temporary bridge behind Cumberland Valley Farm Gas station on Brown Street, over the river and into Rotary Park near current construction for new stormwater pipes with traffic coming onto Water Street.

One of the major concerns with shutting down the Mousam River bridge was how the 16,000 cars that pass over the bridge daily could be redirected without congesting traffic and still allowing the downtown businesses to thrive.

Ettinger said the new bridge would have two lanes and could support school buses, fire trucks and any other emergency service vehicles. Tractor-trailers will be re-routed onto the turnpike because of the small turning radius available in the Water Street intersection.

David Cluff of Duffy’s Tavern expressed concern the bridge construction would result in a loss of business from people avoiding downtown traffic congestion.

“How many locals and tourists will stay away from the area? They don’t want to deal with the traffic,” Cluff said.

So far Kennebunk has put up a few signs while construction is taking place for the downtown revitalization project that indicate downtown shops are open for business.

Those signs may remain during bridge construction.

Kevin Cummings from DOT, said the department would install a temporary light or stop sign on Water Street and was in the process of getting traffic counts to help alleviate traffic delays.

If traffic congestion continued to be a problem, Cummings said the department would change the timing on the light.

Concerns were also raised about the aesthetics of the bridge.

“We have been coordinating with the town pretty well for the last few months and received a laundry list of requests from the town,” Ettinger said. “We’re pretty confident we cannot incorporate all of them.”

The DOT will pay for sidewalks and handrails that match what the bridge currently has, but for brick sidewalks or more ornate handrails, the town would have to pay the price difference. Other suggestions include a bump out for people to stop and look over the river, although Ettinger said it would be very costly and advised against it.

David Shulenberg, a business owner in the construction area, asked DOT officials why they thought they could not fulfill all of the town’s requests.

“Why not, instead of aiming for mediocrity, aim for the best bridge project that’s ever been done in a small town in Maine,” he said.

Three weeks after DOT finds a construction company for the project, the department will meet with town officials and other affected residents.

In the meantime, the town will post plans on its website and continue to work closely with the DOT to make any modifications to the bridge in order to keep it in line with the revitalization project.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.