Route 34—

Stevenson Dam Bridge To Close For Two Weeks

By Andrew Gorosko

STEVENSON — Starting in late July, the narrow, deteriorating two-lane bridge that crosses the Housatonic River atop Stevenson Dam will be closed to traffic for two weeks to allow bridge deck repairs to be made.

The bridge atop the hydroelectric dam links the Stevenson section of Monroe to Oxford via Route 34.

The bridge’s closure will result in lengthy detours, considering the few locations where bridges cross the Housatonic River.

Chris Cooper, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation (DOT), said this week that during the two-week bridge closure, Route 34 motorists will be directed to use Route 110 and Route 111 as detour routes.

In those detours, motorists traveling eastward on Route 34 from Newtown toward New Haven would leave Route 34 in Monroe, travel along Route 111 to Route 110, follow Route 110 to downtown Shelton and then proceed back onto Route 34 in Derby. Westbound motorists on Route 34 would follow the opposite route.

The decision to close the bridge for two continuous weeks was based on comments made by public officials, business owners, and area residents at a recent public information meeting, according to Mr Cooper.

Initially, the DOT had considered closing the bridge on five alternating weekends during a two-month period, but opted against that closure plan.

The date on which the bridge will close will be announced two weeks before the bridge closure, according to Mr Cooper.

Electronic road signs posted in the vicinity of the bridge will provide two weeks’ notice of the bridge’s closing date.

Electronic signs will be positioned on Interstate 84 in Newtown and on Route 34 in Ansonia/Derby during the bridge closure to inform motorists that they should seek alternate routes.

Besides the bridge deck repair work that will occur during the two-week closure, related bridge repair work is now underway. During such repairs, the bridge occasionally will carry alternating one-way traffic, as needed, to allow construction to proceed, Mr Cooper said. Such alternating one-way traffic would occur on weekdays between 9 am and 3 pm.

The overall bridge repair project is planned for completion by September.

Northeast Generation Company, the firm that owns the bridge, is conducting the $2 million repair project. Northeast Generation Company is a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities.

Besides bridge deck repairs, construction will include guardrail repairs, plus bridge bearing replacements.

Stevenson Dam was built between 1917 and 1919. The 1,250-foot-long concrete dam, which is 124 feet tall, creates the 11-mile-long impoundment upriver of the dam known as Lake Zoar, which is heavily used for recreation.

The DOT plans to construct a new $40 million bridge across the Housatonic River to replace the antiquated, deteriorating bridge atop Stevenson Dam, but that span will not be completed until about 2010. Those bridge plans are under review by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The new bridge would be constructed about 250 feet upriver of the existing bridge atop Stevenson Dam. The Housatonic River at Lake Zoar would remain at its current level during the bridge construction project. The new bridge would be designed to last 80 years.