It has been a long time coming, but the new Poverty Hollow Road bridge that spans the Aspetuck River near Centennial Watershed State Forest is now open to traffic.

Although detour signs were still posted in the area on Tuesday, October 21, the bridge was open to traffic.

The bridge replacement project began on June 9, and was to be completed by August 15, but due to delays in receiving the components required for the bridge project, the town’s construction contractor did not finish the span until recently.

Nagy Brothers Construction Company Inc of Monroe built the bridge for the town at a cost of about $343,000. Hanson Building Products produced the concrete culverts for the project.

Three box culverts create the foundation for the new bridge.

The new bridge is 30 feet wide, almost double the width of the span that it replaces. The new bridge is 40 feet long. The project includes about 290 linear feet of new paving in the area. New stormwater drainage has been  installed.

The old Poverty Hollow Road bridge did not meet modern standards. Due to its narrowness, accidents occurred in which the exterior left rear-view mirrors of approaching vehicles collided with each other as the vehicles passed in opposite directions.

Town Engineer Ronald Bolmer said October 21 that a few minor construction items remained to be completed on the bridge project.

“It’s open…Drive carefully,” he advised.