URGENT Tukey's Bridge Closure! How YOU can help to stop it!

[Gordon Platt]

SEE ATTACHMENTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGE AND CONTACT LIST TO CALL/EMAIL 

I stood by the bridge for two hours this morning to hand out fliers and alert trail users of the closure. 

-Many people were upset 

-Many people agreed to help 

-Many people had no idea about the length and scope of the closure 

-A few people I met use this bridge every day to get to work 

-A few people I met are unable to drive, and this bridge is a crucial alternative. 

THIS is the test of our City and Council's Commitment to transportation equity and bike/ped safety. THERE IS NO OTHER ROUTE

We can not afford to let this bridge closure happen.  

-People will be unexpectedly late to work 

-People will get caught in the dark without lights

-People may get exhausted or run out of batteries on the Back Cove loop (the current, unreasonable alternative) 

-People may choose to walk, ride, or roll on I-295 instead, putting themselves in danger.  

I spoke with someone at Unitil more familiar with the Project yesterday- 

It is my understanding: 

-City of Portland (Parks) and Maine DEP were the permit grantors 

-Unitil is digging up an old, unused gas pipe that is buried in the middle of the trail 

-The person I spoke to was nice, listened, and seemed genuinely concerned about this, and said he would propose some alternatives up the chain.  

Please reach out to Unitil 

Please reach out to City Council 

Please reach out to the Portland Parks Department. 

Thank you! 

Gordon 

[Aaron L. Rosenblum]

Amazing work, Gordon! It was great to see you out there this morning. 

Not for nothing, the placement of this electronic sign announcing the closure also leaves something to be desired…

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[John Clark]

They did the same thing on the Preble Street Extension side...

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John Clark (he | him | his)

[Zack Barowitz]

Great work Gordon, I’ll

Reach out to the council 

Thanks

Zack 

207-838-6120

917-696-5649
ZacharyBarowitz.com

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[Gordon Platt]

Hi Aaron- yes, I’ll probably work 4-5 or so. I’ll text you. 

Thanks, 

Gordon Platt

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[Aaron L. Rosenblum]

I think this didn’t send due to file size, so re-sending:

On Thu, Oct 2, 2025 at 8:18 AM Aaron L. Rosenblum <arose...@gmail.com> wrote:

As of this am, the sign on the Baxter/north side has been moved to only slightly in the bike lane rather than completely blocking it. 

On Wed, Oct 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM John Clark <jmcla...@gmail.com> wrote:

They did the same thing on the Preble Street Extension side...

On Wed, Oct 1, 2025 at 2:12 PM Aaron L. Rosenblum <arose...@gmail.com> wrote:

Amazing work, Gordon! It was great to see you out there this morning. 

Not for nothing, the placement of this electronic sign announcing the closure also leaves something to be desired…

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/PBPAC/CAP8scXfi03S0TkqkZcAyjdPTX%2B5fkCBA6nbVU6aPxDAvY-sUrw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Zack Barowitz]

Progress!

207-838-6120

917-696-5649
ZacharyBarowitz.com

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[Gordon Platt]

Here is what I have heard from Maine DOT as of this morning- I responded with the Casco Bay Bridge closure re-route that I found.  

Hi Gordon,

 

Thanks for reaching out. We do have some conversations underway with both Unitil and the City, trying to better understand exactly what Unitil’s work entails and where.

 

 

I’m not aware of MaineDOT ever reducing vehicular lanes on the interstate to allow temporary path access in a travel lane, but if you have any more information on if/when or how that was done in past please let me know. The existing concrete barriers on the outside edge of the path are permanently affixed to the bridge, so any temporary use of a trave lane would involve cutting through those barriers in addition to adding another row of barrier on the bridge deck, I don’t think we would do that unless I can find an example of when we have done it in the past.

 

Not everyone knows this, but generally Unitil is a GREAT partner in Active Transportation (as far as utilities go), almost the entire length of the Eastern Trail from Scarborough south is located in their right-of-way over top of their gas transmission line and they work very well with the Eastern Trail Alliance and the towns long that trail, even repairing trail surface issues when they do gas line work. This just happens to be one of those situations where there is a lot of infrastructure in a very small space as everything is crossing back cove (transportation, utilities, etc.).

 

We’ll do our best to keep some conversations going with the City and Unitil so see if we can shorten the window of time involved or find a way to allow access if possible.

 

Please reach out anytime,

 

 

		Dakota Hewlett Active Transportation Planner Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding Program Manager Maine Department of Transportation 16 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333 c: (207) 592-3384 dakota....@maine.gov

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Thanks, 

Gordon Platt

[Luke Curran]

Hey All, 

Long time lurker, first time contributor here. 

Between this response from MDOT and the images and description of the project scope that Counciler Sykes passed along on the other email thread, I find myself wondering where an alternate path could actually be routed from the East Deering side of the bridge without passing through an active construction zone where Unitil

 will need to be moving people, machinery and materials to complete this project? 

Given the 9 bus line already connects east Deering to the peninsula, could we lobby for free fare on the 9 line during this project? 

Best, 

Luke Curran

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[Scsmedia]

A path could be blazed to the other side of I-95 (the route essentaill exists covered in trees and brush), but it would only get you to the water's edge.  It highlights the need for the path across the bridge on the waterside that is planned to be built.    When is the question.

The 7, 9 and the Breeze go across the bridge.  Bus cost is not really the issue for the bus.  Providing access to it would be easy.  The issue is that all 7 and 9 buses end at 10 pm so overnight coverage is the issue.  This project would be better served with 24 hour shuttle buses like Maine Medical uses.

Steven Scharf

207-415-4662

SCSM...@aol.com

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