DOT Reviews Public Comments On I-84 Bridge Project

By Andrew Gorosko

State Department of Transportation (DOT) officials are reviewing residents’ comments made at a public meeting at which the DOT described its plans for $6.6 million project to replace the two structurally deficient Interstate 84 bridges that cross above Center Street in the Riverside section of Sandy Hook.

DOT officials met with a small group of residents from the Riverside section on December 14 to discuss the project to replace the two bridges. The parallel bridges, which lie about 90 feet apart, are located just west of the Lake Zoar section of the Housatonic River.

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

According to the preliminary DOT documents on the December 14 session, in response to a question from the town engineer about the prospects for constructing a sidewalk along Center Street as part of the bridge replacement project, DOT officials agreed that the project’s scope would allow such sidewalk construction. There is a school bus stop and restaurant in that area that generate pedestrian traffic in the area.

Residents at the session explained their longstanding desire for noise barriers at the bridges, asking that such devices be installed as part of the bridge replacement project.

However, because the highway’s traffic capacity would not be increased by the project, noise barrier installation is not part of the project, according to DOT.

Citing problems with various debris falling from I-84 and landing on their property, the residents asked that sturdy debris fencing be installed along the westbound lanes of the highway, as had been installed along the eastbound lanes in the past. DOT officials agreed to this request.

According to the DOT documents, the residents asked that the DOT install signage along I-84 prohibiting truckers from using noisy exhaust-type brakes near the Center Street overpasses. In response, DOT officials said the use of such brakes is considered a safety issue and no such restrictions would be made.

Also, residents questioned whether the use of “weathering” steel is the best structural material to use in the bridge replacement project.

In response, DOT officials said that such steel is a standard bridge-construction material, which eliminates the need for repainting steel as part of long-term bridge maintenance.

In light of residents’ concerns about creating a detour at Center Street for the construction project, when considering the narrowness of roads in that area, DOT officials responded that a Center Street detour would be limited to “off-peak hours” and would occur only when construction workers are actively removing and replacing steel beams as part of the bridge replacement project.

Conventional steel beams would be used to replace the existing prestressed reinforced concrete beams that now support the bridge deck sections of the I-84 Center Street overpasses.

In response to residents’ questions about other possible designs for the bridge replacement project, DOT officials explained that using precast concrete arches to support the bridge deck sections was considered as a design option, but was determined to be more costly and also ineligible for federal funding for such bridge projects.

DOT transportation engineer Mary Baker said on December 22 that the funding split for the bridge project would 90 percent federal money and 10 percent state money.

Ms Baker said that DOT has completed about one-third of the design plans for the bridge replacement project.

She noted that the Center Street bridges have deteriorated sooner than anticipated and thus need to be replaced. The bridges’ prestressed concrete beams are in poor condition due to cracking. The bridges were built in 1977 and 1978. Bridges typically are designed to last for 75 years of traffic service.

The bridge project would include replacing the concrete girders and also the concrete deck slabs. Two-lane traffic would be maintained in each direction on I-84 at all times during the construction project through the use of staged-construction techniques. To allow such a traffic-flow plan, the eastbound bridge would be widened in the median area.

Because the state right-of-way in the bridge area is approximately 350 feet wide, the state will not need to acquire rights-of-way for the project.

Anyone looking for detailed information on the bridge replacement project may contact DOT’s Office of Engineering at 2800 Berlin Turnpike in Newington during the office hours of 8:30 am to 4 pm, Mondays through Fridays. Those who want to review the bridge plans should contact Ms Baker to make an appointment, at 860-594-3402 or 860-563-9375.