Currituck Rd Reopens

For Thru Traffic

By Steve Bigham

With the removal of a few signs and some barriers Currituck Road re-opened to traffic Tuesday afternoon. The road had been closed for bridge repair work (over Pond Brook) at the north end of the road for more than six months.

John Mead and Dave Peck of the town’s highway department removed the signs, which were first put up late last December when the bridge work was scheduled to begin. The job ran into numerous delays along the way, however, pushing the road re-opening date into the summer.

The project was finally completed by Dayton Construction of Watertown, which did finally install two new box culverts in late June. The town then needed another 10 days to prepare the road and bridge for use by motorists.

The bridge had been scheduled for replacement last summer. However, the company that produces the new box culvert was unable to deliver the piece until late fall. By that time, the low water season was over, making it very difficult to “de-water” the area. The process of “de-watering” involves channeling water from one side of the bridge to the other.

Town officials agreed they would wait until this summer to complete the project. However, Hurricane Floyd, which hit the area in mid-September, served to further undermine the bridge, creating concern from the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT), which wanted to close the bridge – essentially closing the road.

Instead, town workers stabilized the bridge by putting sandbags under its footings. The effort satisfied the DOT enough to allow the bridge to remain open through the Christmas holidays. By late December, the road was closed and contractors from Warren Kimball & Sons of Newtown converged on the site to begin the “de-watering” process. However, as the months passed by, it became clear that the project would not be completed due to high water levels in Pond Brook.

The bridge repair work took place between Kenan Road and Obtuse Road.

The two-mile road serves as a major connector for commuters traveling north and south. Called the “Northwest Passage” by some, the road serves as a shortcut for commuters heading to Brookfield, New Milford and parts further north.