GRAY – Area residents are invited to a discussion Tuesday, Nov. 27, regarding plans for the Gray interchange of the Maine Turnpike.

Maine Turnpike Authority officials will be at the Henry Pennell Municipal Complex on Main Street in Gray starting at 7 p.m. to solicit comment from Gray officials and area residents regarding the possible redesign of the Exit 63 interchange in Gray.

According to spokesman Dan Morin, the bridge that spans the turnpike and connects the toll collection booth on the east side of the pike is deteriorating and needs to be replaced, since it was erected about 55 years ago when the turnpike was first introduced. Turnpike officials are using the bridge repair as a chance to reassess the entire interchange and gauge public opinion regarding the safety and efficiency of the interchange.

“The meeting on the 27th is meant to present what the study goals and objectives are going to be and solicit feedback from local residents,” Morin said. “We’re looking for public input about what some of the local concerns may be of the current construct of the interchange in order to incorporate some of those concerns into the data we’re going to study before the draft report is released in March.”

Morin said the bridge is “nearing the point where we either have to rehab it or rebuild it, and that’s a pretty extensive cost. So what we figured was while we’re at the point of determining whether that bridge should be rehabbed or rebuilt, we might as well look at all the information about the interchange and the traffic efficiency around it.”

Morin said the authority could choose to repair the bridge and leave the design of the interchange as it is, or a more extensive redesign could do away with the bridge and create two tollbooths on either side of the turnpike. A new one, located where the park and ride lot is now, would handle southbound travelers and the existing toll collection area would handle northbound travelers.

“So it’s very preliminary at this point,” Morin said. “This is the first time we’ll meet in front of the [Gray] Town Council and the residents. And there will be multiple meetings before any determination is made.”

– John Balentine