City Of Portland: MAJOR TRAFFIC ALERT - I-295 Exit 7 Closures Begin September 13

Press release from the City of Portland:

September 7, 2021

Variable message boards and a traffic control plan rerouting motorists will be implemented.  Motorists are encouraged to use Congress Street or Cumberland Avenue as detour routes around the project area. Motorists should make plans to seek alternate routes during this time. 

These closures are necessary to complete the City’s Back Cove South Storage Facility Project, in order to connect the existing utilities within the intersection of Marginal Way and Franklin Street to the new storage tanks under the Preble Street playing fields. 

The project is one of the City’s latest sewer separation projects to prevent combined sewer overflows into Back Cove. The work to reduce overflows is part of the City’s agreement with the U.S. EPA to reduce and eliminate the flow of combined waste being discharged. A combined sewer system transports wastewater from home, industries, and businesses, as well as storm water collected from streets, parking lots, roofs, and yards to the East End Wastewater Treatment Plant. A combined sewer overflow occurs when the combined sewer capacity is overwhelmed during heavy rain events and a mix of sewer and storm water is discharged into Back Cove. 

The Department of Public Works has been coordinating with the prime contractor, Sargent Corporation, and the Maine Department of Transportation as part of a traffic control plan to minimize the impacts to the traveling public.

Related graphics and updates to the project can be found on the Public Works website.

This press release was produced by the City of Portland. The views expressed here are the author’s own.