WELCOME TO THE SARAH MILDRED LONG BRIDGE OPEN HOUSE
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Bridge Deck Railroad Deck 18’ Bridge Deck Railroad Deck 135’ Typical Position Bridge Deck Railroad Deck At the neighborhood level – the design avoids a dead end of Bridge Street, minimizes retaining walls, and increases residenal peace and quiet by providing direct access to the bridge and removing unnecessary vehicles from neighborhoods. On the Portsmouth end, the connecon will occur before the Albacore Connector and add an addional turning lane. On the Kiery end, the connecon improves traffic flow and pedestrian safety. A huge benefit of the new bridge will be the drasc reducon in the number of bridge openings for ships. Since it will have a 56’ vercal clearance when it is in its “resng” posion, there will be 68% fewer bridge openings than there are today. In the “resng” posion, the bridge’s liſt span will be at its middle level to allow motor vehicles and cyclists to cross the river. The new bridge’s movable span will liſt up to allow tall vessels to pass underneath and will lower to track level to allow trains to cross. LOOKING FORWARD Construcon is ancipated to begin in late 2014 with the new alignment open to vehicles in November 2017. Maine DOT and New Hampshire DOT will communicate with the public throughout the project. To keep up with the latest project informaon, visit the project website at www.maine.gov/mdot/sml/index.shtml MAJOR BENEFITS OF THE DESIGN The alignment of the new bridge will be slightly northwest of the exisng crossing (shown by the yellow line to the leſt), which means that traffic can connue to flow on the exisng bridge throughout most of construcon of the new bridge. The new alignment greatly improves marine navigaon – it straightens the navigaonal channel allowing large and modern vessels to access the port and shipyard. This creates economic opportunies for the port and region. The Sarah Mildred Long (SML) Bridge Replacement Project is the result of a partnership between Maine and New Hampshire’s Departments of Transportaon to address bridge needs across the Piscataqua River. The community has been involved in the design of the new bridge since the beginning. The focus of this open house is to share the results of community involvement as seen in the final bridge design. The bridge links Maine and New Hampshire and provides a crical back-up route in case of disrupon on the Interstate 95 Bridge across the Piscataqua. The SML is an important commercial crossing for traffic on the US Route 1 Bypass. It allows people and goods access to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kiery, a source of 4,200 direct jobs. The exisng bridge is restricted to motor vehicles. The replacement bridge will have ample shoulders to enable cyclists to cross it. Rendering of the new bridge viewed from Oak Terrace WELCOME TO THE SARAH MILDRED LONG BRIDGE OPEN HOUSE www.maine.gov/mdot/sml PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE KITTERY, MAINE Portsmouth New Hampshire Kittery Maine N Piscataqua River Bridge Street Oak Terrace Albacore Park – No impacts Railroad Bridge Market Street Overpass Port of New Hampshire – Alignment optimizes the space Newington Branch RR Line Existing Sarah Mildred Long Bridge New Sarah Mildred Long Bridge Alignment Less overlap with existing alignment reduces closures during construction Opens up land use opportunities and connectivity Exiting U.S. Route 1 Bypass Albacore Connector Intersection Existing Bridge To-Be-Demolished New Bridge Sidewalks Existing Bridge To-Be-Demolished New Signalized Intersection Railroad 1-Way Street New Bridge Up for Larger Ships Down for Train 56’ State of New Hampshire in cooperation with the and the State of New Hampshire in cooperation with the and the FEWER OPENINGS SAVES TIME AND MONEY
Transcript of WELCOME TO THE SARAH MILDRED LONG BRIDGE OPEN HOUSE
Bridge Deck
Railroad Deck
18’
Bridge Deck
Railroad Deck
135’
Typical Position
Bridge Deck
Railroad Deck
At the neighborhood level – the design avoids a dead end of Bridge Street, minimizes retaining walls, and increases residenti al peace and quiet by providing direct access to the bridge and removing unnecessary vehicles from neighborhoods. On the Portsmouth end, the connecti on will occur before the Albacore Connector and add an additi onal turning lane. On the Kitt ery end, the connecti on improves traffi c fl ow and pedestrian safety.
A huge benefi t of the new bridge will be the drasti c reducti on in the number of bridge openings for ships. Since it will have a 56’ verti cal clearance when it is in its “resti ng” positi on, there will be 68% fewer bridge
openings than there are today. In the “resti ng” positi on, the bridge’s lift span will be at its middle level to allow motor vehicles and cyclists to cross the river. The new bridge’s movable span will lift up to allow tall vessels to pass underneath and will lower to track level to allow trains to cross.
LOOKING FORWARDConstructi on is anti cipated to begin in late 2014 with the new alignment open to vehicles in November 2017. Maine DOT and New Hampshire DOT will communicate with the public throughout the project. To keep up with the latest project informati on, visit the project website at www.maine.gov/mdot/sml/index.shtml
MAJOR BENEFITS OF THE DESIGNThe alignment of the new bridge will be slightly northwest of the existi ng crossing (shown by the yellow line to the left ), which means that traffi c can conti nue to fl ow on the existi ng bridge throughout most of constructi on of the new bridge. The new alignment greatly improves marine navigati on – it straightens the navigati onal channel allowing large and modern vessels to access the port and shipyard. This creates economic opportuniti es for the port and region.
The Sarah Mildred Long (SML) Bridge Replacement Project is the result of a partnership between Maine and New Hampshire’s Departments of Transportati on to address bridge needs across the Piscataqua River. The community has been involved in the design of the new bridge since the beginning. The focus of this open house is to share the results of community involvement as seen in the fi nal bridge design. The bridge links Maine and New Hampshire and provides a criti cal back-up route in case of disrupti on on the Interstate 95 Bridge across the Piscataqua. The SML is an important commercial crossing for traffi c on the US Route 1 Bypass. It allows people and goods access to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kitt ery, a source of 4,200 direct jobs. The existi ng bridge is restricted to motor vehicles. The replacement bridge will have ample shoulders to enable cyclists to cross it.
Rendering of the new bridge viewed from Oak Terrace
WELCOME TO THESARAH MILDRED LONG BRIDGE OPEN HOUSE
www.maine.gov/mdot/sml
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE KITTERY, MAINE
PortsmouthNew Hampshire
KitteryMaine
N
Piscataqua River
BridgeStreet
OakTerrace
AlbacorePark –
No impacts
RailroadBridge
MarketStreet
Overpass
Port ofNew Hampshire
– Alignmentoptimizesthe space
NewingtonBranchRR Line
ExistingSarah MildredLong Bridge
New Sarah MildredLong Bridge Alignment
Less overlap with existing alignmentreduces closures during construction
Opens up land useopportunities and
connectivity
Exiting U.S.
Route 1Bypass
Albacore Connector Intersection
Existing BridgeTo-Be-Demolished
New Bridge
Sidewalks
Existing BridgeTo-Be-Demolished
New Signalized Intersection
Railroad
1-Way Street
New Bridge
Up for Larger Ships Down for Train
56’
State ofNew Hampshire
in cooperation with the
and the
State ofNew Hampshire
in cooperation with the
and the
FEWER OPENINGS SAVES TIME AND MONEY
State ofNew Hampshire
in cooperation with the
and the
Maine and New Hampshire have agreed that replacing the 74-year-old Sarah Mildred Long Bridge is the best way to ensure this crossing has a safe, functi onal, economical, and aestheti cally pleasing bridge for many decades. The two states will equally share the costs of replacing the bridge. Maine DOT is leading the project on behalf of both states with support from the Federal Highway Administrati on.
PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION TO DESIGN
The fi nal design of the SML and how it is built will benefi t residents of Kitt ery and Portsmouth, and the travel experience for all bridge users. In additi on, a new
bridge design provides a chance to increase opportuniti es for the Port, the Shipyard, and the regional economy. Since this bridge is so important to so many, the project team has engaged community stakeholders, including the general public, through a comprehensive eff ort that has included seven workshops and public events, and a dedicated project webpage for conti nual project informati on. In additi on, the team has given several presentati ons to community organizati ons and provided informati on at the 2013 and 2014 Kitt ery Block Parti es. Also, the SML Bridge replacement design development was graciously featured in an art exhibit at the Discover Portsmouth Center in the summer of 2013.
OVERVIEW
FUNCTIONAL, EFFICIENT BEAUTY:
The new bridge’s vehicular structure will be stacked over its railroad structure. The bridge was designed with long open spans, using eleven fewer piers than the existi ng bridge. This means enhanced vistas for residents and motorists. Minimizing the number of piers increases the economy of the project, and preserves the environment. In additi on, it allows the new bridge to span over Market Street, eliminati ng the existi ng pier in the median. The design of the piers was selected by the community during the community design workshops. The unique and eye-catching open-sheave tower design was also developed with the community during 5 design workshops and stakeholder meeti ngs to refl ect the working waterfront.
Vehicular Structure
Rendering of Typical Bridge Cross-section
The use of concrete versus steel, means signifi cant cost savings for both states over the 100-year life of the bridge.
Pictures from community workshops during design.
Railroad Structure
