Shaw Brothers started the Broadway Pedestrian Improvements Project on October 8, 2026, beginning with the realignment of Hill Street where it meets Broadway. The contract gives the work until November 15, 2027 to finish, including the final paving. So Broadway will be an active project through this winter and all of next year's construction season.
That long schedule matters for more than traffic. The project redesigns Broadway around people crossing it on foot to reach a bus stop, a market or a restaurant. Several of the places they'd be walking to have changed in 2026. When the last stretch is paved in November 2027, the new crosswalks will lead to a different set of storefronts than the ones there when the project started.
A finish line that moved a full year
The city has put this project out to bid twice. The first invitation, Bid 28-26, was published June 10, 2026 with bids due July 9. It required the work to be complete, including finish pavement, by November 15, 2026. That would have meant a single construction season.
The second invitation, Bid 02-27, was published July 30 with bids due August 20. It covers the same scope and the same three miles but sets the deadline a year later, at November 15, 2027. MaineDOT carries the same document under the project's state number, WIN 027356.00. Work started under the later deadline, so there is no reason to expect a finished Broadway this year. The bid also says the contractor must "work continuously upon commencement of the work."
According to Sebago Technics, the engineering firm that designed it, voters approved funding by referendum in 2020. The project then sat on hold over funding limits until federal money came through MaineDOT's Locally Administered Project program. The current work is the delayed part of a plan South Portland voted for six years ago.
What the three miles are getting
The bid documents describe the work as "targeted spot improvements." It is a series of crossing fixes and sidewalk sections, not a full rebuild of the road. The work zone starts 0.25 miles east of Route 1 and runs northeast about three miles to Breakwater Drive, plus the Hill Street intersection. The listed work includes:
- Upgrades to pedestrian crossings at points along the corridor
- Realignment of Hill Street with Broadway
- New bituminous sidewalk with concrete slipform curb, drainage and paving
- Pedestrian crossing beacons and new bituminous islands
- Pavement markings and traffic control during construction
Sebago's design summary adds the detail most relevant to daily trips. The bus stops on Broadway are designed with rectangular rapid flashing beacons, known as RRFBs, at signalized crosswalks with push buttons, to make it safer and easier to reach transit. The 2020 plan also included upgrades along the Greenbelt Pathway. The project materials don't mention dedicated bike lanes.
This is also the second round of sidewalk work on this road in two years. A separate effort paid for with a Community Development Block Grant and Municipal Partnership Initiative funding added sidewalk along the north side of Broadway from Whitehall Avenue to Lincoln Street, and along Church Street. That work was built in 2025. Sebago notes that Broadway's curves and hills made it hard to place crosswalks where drivers can see them in time. That helps explain why the current project picks specific crossing points along the road.
Hill Street went first
The first visible piece was the Hill Street realignment. The city's Public Works notice said that section of Hill Street would be closed around the clock for about two weeks starting October 8. Traffic was detoured via Lombard Street, and emergency vehicles could get through as needed. That two-week window has now passed. The city's news flash page is where closure updates have been posted, so check there before planning a route around Hill Street.
The businesses at the crossings are changing too
The road work is planned through 2027. The businesses along Broadway changed during 2026 itself.
| Address on the corridor | What changed in 2026 |
|---|---|
| 725 Broadway | Broadway Bowl closed May 17; the building is for sale or lease |
| 323 Broadway | Ferry Village Market, business and building, listed for sale |
| Cash Corner | Azteca opened in the former Caribbean Taste building |
Broadway Bowl had its last day on May 17, at the end of its bowling season. It had opened in November 2023, and the Portland Press Herald reported the closure as coming less than three years after opening. Owner Charlie Mitchell's statement, quoted by Portland Food Map, compared running a business to bowling, where, in his words:
"there are fist-pumping strikes, stubborn splits, and yes, the occasional gutterball."
In the same statement, he said the business had been dealing with "a challenging and unpredictable economic moment." As of Portland Food Map's October 2026 restaurant real estate roundup, the 15,524-square-foot building was for sale at $2.5 million and also available to lease. No new tenant had been named.
Ferry Village Market has been at 323 Broadway since spring 2020, when it opened in the former Anania's space. The same October roundup listed the market together with its building and land for $1.3 million. A sale listing doesn't mean the store is closing. The market's own site still lists its hours and a takeout menu, so it's the best place to check before stopping in.
Azteca is the new addition. The owners of Tacos La Poblanita opened it in Cash Corner, in the building formerly occupied by Caribbean Taste. According to Portland Food Map, the menu includes camarones a la diabla, fajitas mixtas, molcajete, tacos, burritos and quesadillas, with tres leches cake and churros for dessert. It's open Wednesday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., closing at 8 p.m. on Sunday. Azteca is closed Tuesdays, which is easy to miss when Broadway traffic is already throwing off a dinner plan.
The same Portland Food Map roundup listed the former Mast Landing tasting room at 185 Cottage Road for lease at $16 per square foot, with 20 parking spaces. That's off Broadway, but it adds to a fall with several large South Portland spaces waiting for their next use.
The order of things from here
- October 8, 2026: Shaw Brothers begins work with the Hill Street realignment and a detour via Lombard Street.
- November 15, 2026: The deadline in the first bid, replaced by the later one.
- Through the 2027 construction season: Crossing, sidewalk, beacon and island work along the three-mile project area.
- November 15, 2027: The current deadline for completion, including finish pavement.
- 2028: MaineDOT expects construction to begin on replacing the Mill Creek Bridge.
The bridge is a separate project. MaineDOT identifies it as bridge #0341 over Mill Creek, 0.02 of a mile northwest of Parkside Terrace, and held a public meeting about it at City Hall on October 7, 2026. The preliminary plan is a full replacement. MaineDOT's project StoryMap points readers to a presentation for the traffic plan during construction. Questions can go to MaineDOT Senior Project Manager Ernie Martin at 207-592-0567.
Taken together, the Broadway pedestrian work fills most of the next year, and the bridge project follows it on MaineDOT's schedule. The storefronts have their own timing. One closed in May, one opened this fall, and one is listed for sale. By the time the final paving goes down on the Broadway project in November 2027, residents will be crossing at new beacons to reach whatever occupies those buildings by then.
If you own a home near the corridor and want to know how a multi-year road project and a changing set of neighbors show up in your home's value, The Moulton Group RE can walk you through it with a licensed appraiser's eye. Get Your Free Home Valuation.
