Officials to Ban Swimming at Popular Manchester Bridge

It's one of our favorite summer past times here in Maine on those hot, dry days. I'm talking about the exhilarating activity of bridge jumping, of course!

According to the Kennebec Journal, one popular Central Maine bridge-swimming spot is running the risk of getting shut down due to several complaints coming in from residents in regards to the crowd sizes and what they refer to as "inappropriate behavior".

The bridge in question is in the town of Manchester and is at the intersection of Pond road and Collins road where the stream flows out of Cobbossee Lake. The complaints about this spot not only include townspeople saying too many people are gathering at one time, but also that behavior has become 'unruly' including consuming alcohol and smoking pot.

As of right now, the town is planning on putting up additional guard rails, some "no parking" signs and even shrubbery all aimed at discouraging people from coming and swimming at the popular summer spot.

It's not all bad news for swimmers though. While the town of Manchester has plenty of shoreline, they are lacking in public areas for residents to swim. So with the closing of the outlet bridge, city officials are working diligently to try and put together a new spot where the public can go and swim on Cobbossee Lake.

Town selectmen were discussing the issue on Tuesday evening. Selectman Doug Ide said, “We’re taking away a swimming spot from people, even though I know it’s not an ideal spot, so I think we should work on creating a spot for people to go.. Manchester has so much waterfront, but no public access.”

We will continue to follow this story and provide updates on spots the town may identify as potential public swimming locations. Stay up to date with everything going on in Central Maine through the free 92 Moose App!