Stevenson Dam Bridge Repair Schedule Changed; Work To Begin Today
MONROE - A construction project to repair the antiquated vehicular bridge atop Stevenson Dam will limit that bridge's use by motoristsÃÂ until early DecemberÃÂ while those repairs are underway.
FirstLight Hydro Generating Company, which owns and operates Stevenson Dam, the adjacent hydroelectric power station, and the bridge atop the dam, will be making safety repairs on the bridge as recommended by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT), according to a statement from FirstLight. FirstLight is slated to start those repairs on Thursday, October 13, with the work continuing until Friday, December 2, 2016.
The work will require there to be alternating one-way traffic on the bridge on Mondays through Fridays, from 8:30 am to 4 pm. Motorists are encouraged to use alternate routes in their travels, if possible, according to FirstLight.
Also, motorists are advised to follow the directions listed on traffic signs posted near the bridge and the directions of uniformed police officers who will be stationed near the construction project.
In September, FirstLight initially said that the bridge atop Stevenson Dam would be closed to traffic overnight on weekdays from early October to early December for the bridge repairs. With the revised construction schedule that FirstLight announced this week, those overnight bridge closures will not occur.
Although FirstLight owns the dam and the bridge atop it, the state owns the roadway on the bridge.
The bridge carries Route 34 (Roosevelt Drive) across the Housatonic River, linking Monroe to Oxford. Many Newtown residents use Route 34 in traveling to and from New Haven. The two-lane bridge is 1,213 feet long, and was constructed in 1919. It has very sharp curves at both of its approaches. Due to its age, the bridge has undergone repairs several times during the past decade.
Several proposals from DOT during the past 20 years to construct a modern bridge across the river to replace the bridge atop the dam, either upstream or downstream of the existing bridge, have failed to materialize.