State Plans To Improve Glen Road Bridge

By Andrew Gorosko

To improve the aging Glen Road bridge, which spans the Lake Zoar section of the Housatonic River and links Sandy Hook to Southbury, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) is planning an approximately $6 million bridge rehabilitation project, which is tentatively is slated to start in the spring of 2013.

DOT has scheduled a public information meeting on the bridge improvement project for Thursday, June 9, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street. DOT staffers will be available at 6:30 pm to answer any questions from the public. A formal presentation on the bridge project is slated to start at 7 pm.

The bridge is in need of improvements due to the poor condition of its steel superstructure, according to DOT. The span carries about 3,100 vehicles per day, including traffic flow in both directions.

Sometimes known as the “silver bridge” due to its former silvery paint color, the span is now painted a medium-brown color that is spotted with blotches of surface rust.

The bridge carries State Route 816 over the Housatonic River. Although it does not have posted route markers, Route 816 comprises Glen Road, and also the section of Church Hill Road lying between its intersections with Glen Road and the Exit 10 interchange of Interstate 84.

The Glen Road bridge is a single-span steel through-truss design that is supported by concrete abutments on the east and west sides of the river. The 308-foot-long bridge has a concrete deck supported on steel floorbeams and stringers. It is 29 feet wide curb to curb.

The bridge improvement project is expected to take two construction seasons to accomplish, according to DOT. If work starts in the spring of 2013, it is expected to be completed by late 2014.

DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick explained that DOT plans to close the bridge to traffic and pedestrians for the first of those two construction seasons, creating detours to carry traffic which would otherwise use that bridge. A construction season typically runs from April 1 through November 30.

“It is assumed that these detours would be in effect for one construction season,” Mr Nursick said in a statement.

While the traffic detours are in effect, the bridge’s deck and its bearings would be replaced.

During the second construction season, steel repairs and repainting would be done on the bridge. During that period, either two-way traffic or alternating one-way traffic would use the Glen Road bridge, depending on the width of the bridge’s roadway that is then available for vehicular travel.

The current project schedule estimates that construction will start in the spring of 2013 and be completed in the fall of 2014, assuming acceptance of the project, the availability of funding, and DOT’s obtaining any required right-of-way and environmental permits for the project. The federal government would cover 80 percent of project costs with the state covering the remainder.

Mr Nursick said that the projected spring 2013 start date for the bridge project is an estimate based upon the typical amount of time it takes the DOT to acquire permits for such projects, as well as bridge design work and other factors.

People interested in reviewing the Glen Road bridge improvement plans may contact James Cavanaugh at DOT for an appointment, telephone 860-594-3209.

The bridge plans are available for review at the DOT’s Office of Engineering, 2800 Berlin Turnpike, Newington, during office hours, Mondays through Fridays, 7 am to 3 pm, excluding holidays.

Mr Nursick said that the Glen Road bridge improvement project should not pose travel conflicts with another bridge project that the DOT is planning for both the eastbound and westbound I-84 bridges that cross above Center Street in the Riverside section.   

The DOT tentatively plans to start work on the Center Street bridge replacement project in the summer of 2012, with project completion slated for the fall of 2013.

Two lanes of through-traffic on both eastbound and westbound I-84 will be maintained throughout the Center Street bridge project, Mr Nursick said.

Town Public Works Director Fred Hurley points out that the town also is planning to replace the aging Walnut Tree Hill Road bridge that crosses above the Pootatuck River. That bridge lies about 1,000 feet west of the Glen Road bridge.

Mr Hurley said that the Glen Road bridge project and Walnut Tree Hill Road bridge project may occur sequentially or simultaneously.

The town always wants to keep the Walnut Tree Hill Road bridge open to least one lane of traffic while that bridge is being replaced in light of public safety concerns stemming from the access which that bridge provides for emergency service vehicles to the Walnut Tree Hill Road area, he said.