BUXTON – Maine transportation officials won’t announce until September its plans for the aging Bar Mills and Canal bridges over the Saco River that divides Buxton and Hollis.

Options the Maine Department of Transportation is still reviewing include repairing both existing bridges, replacing both bridges, or removing the Bar Mills Bridge. The bridges carry traffic over the river and canal on Route 4A through the quaint village known as Bar Mills, with historic homes.

In 2011, transportation officials had planned a decision for the spring 2012.

The two, 76-year old bridges were rehabbed in 1987. An inspection of the bridges last summer has revealed rusting steel and deteriorating concrete.

“They’re lived their practical life,” Mark Parlin, state project manager, said last week in a public meeting attended by residents, along with Buxton and Hollis officials that packed Hollis Town Hall.

Parlin plans another public meeting in September about the options, and construction could begin in 2015.

A rehab of the Canal Bridge is estimated at $1.2 million, while replacement is pegged at $2.3 million, according to the state. The Bar Mills Bridge would cost $4.1 million to repair but would run about $8.3 million to replace. Transportation officials said lifespan of rehabbing would cover 25 years and replacement would last 80 to 100 years.

“We don’t have funding for construction in the pot right now,” Parlin said.

But, Rep. Donald Marean, R-Hollis, who represents Hollis and part of Buxton, felt money would be allocated for a project.

“They’ll find the money to build these bridges,” Marean said after the meeting.

Some residents cite heavy truck traffic over the bridges and highway approaches to the bridges as dangerous. The state is researching the impact on traffic patterns by removing the Bar Mills Bridge.

A 23-year Buxton resident, John Vedral, favored removing it.

But, Ben Severance, a Hollis selectman, objected to the option of eliminating the Bar Mills Bridge, which would reroute commuter traffic and impact other roads. Severance said Hollis receives state revenue sharing to maintain Route 4A as a state highway and removing the bridge would cost the town money “year after year.”

In the past, some owners of nearby historic homes in both towns had feared that re-designing or widening road approaches to the bridges would impact their properties.

“We’re trying to keep approach work minimal because it costs money,” Parlin said.

Adding another option for state consideration, Severance introduced a slightly curved bridge design that would place a new bridge slightly upstream of the present one.

The Maine Department of Transportation appeared to favor replacing the two bridges, but is seeking public input about future of the bridges from local property owners, business owners, emergency services and schools.

Those wishing to respond can contact either towns of Buxton and Hollis or call Parlin at 624-3449 or email mark.parlin@maine.gov.