As a hot, humid, and wet summer progresses, workers have been busy on three separate projects to replace outdated local bridges with new spans designed to improve traffic flow and enhance travel safety.

A state Department of Transportation (DOT) project is replacing a bridge in a high traffic area on Sugar Street (Route 302), just west of its intersection with Main Street/South Main Street (Route 25). A town project on the northern end of Toddy Hill Road is replacing an outdated bridge there, just south of Toddy Hill Road’s intersection with Berkshire Road (Route 34). Another town project is replacing an outdated span on Walnut Tree Hill Road, just north of its intersection with Glen Road (Route 816).

DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick said August 15 that the Sugar Street bridge project’s schedule is currently being driven by utility relocation work. A temporary natural gas bypass line, which has been in place there during bridge construction, needs to be removed within the next two weeks, he said. Also, a utility pole and its associated lines needs to be relocated. The utility pole work is slated to start by the end of August.

After that utility work occurs, the project’s general contractor will then be able to do work, including milling and paving, sidewalk installation, and guardrail placement, plus related landscaping work, Mr Nursick said. During such work, occasional detours will be required.

Under the contract that the state has with general contractor Dayton Construction Company Inc of Watertown, the firm has until the end of October to complete the $1.9 million bridge project.

The new bridge replaces a decaying 1929 span with a new box culvert which will carry a stream beneath Sugar Street. The project will increase the width of Sugar Street in that area and provide a longer left-turn lane for eastbound Sugar Street traffic as it approaches the signalized intersection. The changes are intended to alleviate congestion at what has long been a vehicular bottleneck during traffic rush periods.

Besides the bridge replacement, the project includes improving a roughly 450-foot-long section of Sugar Street, with improvements made both east and west of the new span.

Complicating the project was the large number of overhead and underground utility lines present in the area. Before work could start, many utility poles needed to be repositioned to make way for the project.

Toddy Hill Road

Work has been underway to replace an outdated town bridge on Toddy Hill Road, just south of its intersection with Berkshire Road.

Fred Hurley, town public works director, said August 14 that the state is covering the construction costs for the $2.8 million project in the form of Local Capital Improvement Project grant. Current estimates project a spring 2019 opening for the new bridge, Mr Hurley said.

The new bridge will be located to the west of the existing Toddy Hill Road bridge. When the new bridge is completed, the existing bridge will be removed.

The new span will be an arch-style bridge that is 32 feet in length. Toddy Hill Road’s northbound approach to Berkshire Road will be flattened to make it simpler for large trucks to navigate the intersection. In the past, some tractor-trailer trucks have gotten hung up on the steep road geometry in that area. The intersection will get new traffic signals. Northbound traffic on Toddy Hill Road will have designated turning lanes. There will be no sidewalk on the bridge.

The bridge and road improvements in that area are intended to alleviate traffic congestion that occurs during rush periods. Black & Warner Construction Company of Unionville is the general contractor on the project.

The Toddy Hill Road bridge project is being done in conjunction with a planned state project to improve traffic flow and enhance travel safety in the general area near Exit 11 of Interstate 84.

That $17.7 million project, which is expected to start sometime after the Toddy Hill Road bridge project is completed, will include a wide range of improvements to Berkshire Road, Wasserman Way, and the Exit 11 ramps. A key feature of that project will be an auxiliary Exit 11 entrance ramp which will extend from westbound Berkshire Road, just west of the Toddy Hill Road/Berkshire Road intersection. That entrance ramp will provide motorists with access to both eastbound and westbound I-84.

Walnut Tree Hill Road

Mr Hurley said work is continuing on the replacement of a town bridge on Walnut Tree Hill Road that crosses above the Pootatuck River, just north of Walnut Tree Hill road’s intersection with Glen Road.

Nagy Brothers Construction Company of Monroe is the general contractor on the approximately $3 million project, Mr Hurley said. The town is covering 20 percent of the costs, with the federal government covering 80 percent, he said. Bridge completion is slated for October, but past delays may result in the project not being finished until late December, Mr Hurley warned.

The new bridge is being built to replace an antiquated, nearly 100-year-old span. The wider new span will be easier for motorists to navigate. The new 60-foot-long bridge will have a sidewalk on one side.

While construction is underway, a traffic signal is controlling alternating one-way traffic on the partially built bridge.