Ten-Day Traffic Alert––

Railroad Bridge Changeover Starts Midnight Friday

By Dottie Evans

After two weeks of intense activity involving the gathering of personnel and equipment at the Church Hill Road (Route 6) railroad bridge site, the zero hour has come.

Midnight Friday marks the beginning of a ten-day demolition and reconstruction process that may prove to be as complicated and careful as a well-choreographed ballet.

For some residents, the changeover process involving a 110-foot crane lifting steel spans weighing many tons and gently positioning them atop concrete abutments will have a beauty all its own.

For others trying to get into or out of town at Exit 10, the ten-day installation of the new superstructure will be all about delays and detours.

Either way, the end result will be a new, long-awaited railroad bridge that will be at least four feet higher than the old span that boasted a clearance of barely 12 feet and 7 inches.

The new span’s additional height should be enough to prevent large container trucks from becoming wedged as they have in the past, when drivers have miscalculated or failed to read the signs.

The changeover itself will not be accomplished in haste, said Newtown Public Works Director Fred Hurley speaking from his office Wednesday morning.

“It’s not going to happen in one hour. Unless you like watching the grass grow, I wouldn’t recommend staying up all night Friday to watch,” Mr Hurley said.

Mr Hurley is more likely to come out to the site Saturday night because that is when the old bridge will come down, according to a Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) official schedule released Tuesday.

Mr Hurley also said that if the weather turns stormy “with lightning bolts coming down,” the crane will not operate.

“Anything electricity related, or if the wind gets too high blowing the load, the work will stop. Safety will be the first consideration,” Mr Hurley said.

No cars will be allowed to pass beneath an operating crane, he added, so detours during night work are to be expected.

DOT Traffic Advisory

In accordance with the railroad bridge changeover, the DOT has issued the following traffic advisory:

Route 6 will be closed to traffic from midnight to 5 am Saturday, June 21, and from midnight to 5 am Sunday, June 22.

Detours will be clearly marked.

Periods of alternating one-way traffic can occur from Monday through Friday, from 9 pm until 6 am, and on Saturday and Sunday, from 9 pm until 9 am.

The new structure will be in place and opened to railroad traffic by June 30, and the entire project is scheduled for completion by September 13.

The remaining time will be spent laying down the newer, wider two-way road beneath the railroad bridge that will include adequate space for pedestrians, and cleanup and landscaping around the site.