Lengthy Detours —

Stevenson Dam Bridge To Close

From August 12 Through 26

By Andrew Gorosko

STEVENSON — To allow major bridge repairs to be made, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) will completely close to traffic the Route 34 two-lane bridge atop Stevenson Dam from 9 pm on Friday, August 12, through Friday, August 26, a DOT spokesman said this week.

The bridge closure will allow workers to make the types of major bridge repairs that they have been unable to accomplish during a bridge renovation project, which has been underway since June.

The bridge closure initially had been planned to start in late July, but because the extent of work needed to repair the bridge was greater than anticipated, the closure period was delayed, said DOT spokesman Chris Cooper.

The bridge atop the hydroelectric dam links the Stevenson section of Monroe to Oxford via Route 34.

The bridge’s closure will result in lengthy detours, considering the few locations where bridges cross the Housatonic River.

During the bridge closure, Route 34 motorists will be directed to use Route 110 and Route 111 as detour routes.

In those detours, motorists traveling eastward on Route 34 from Newtown toward New Haven would leave Route 34 in Monroe, travel along Route 111 to Route 110, follow Route 110 to downtown Shelton and then proceed back onto Route 34 in Derby. Westbound motorists on Route 34 would follow the opposite route.

The decision to close the bridge for two continuous weeks was based on comments made by public officials, business owners, and area residents at a recent public information meeting.

Electronic signs will be posted in the vicinity of the bridge during the week of August 1 to provide advance notice of the bridge’s August 12 closing date.

Electronic signs will be positioned on Interstate 84 in Newtown and on Route 34 in Ansonia/Derby on August 12 to inform motorists that the bridge is closed and they should seek alternate routes.

During current bridge repair work, the bridge occasionally carries alternating one-way traffic, as needed, to allow construction to proceed. Such alternating one-way traffic occurs on weekdays between 9 am and 3 pm. Bridge repairs are expected to be completed sometime in September.

Northeast Generation Company, the firm that owns the bridge, is conducting the $2 million repair project. 

Stevenson Dam was built between 1917 and 1919. The 1,250-foot-long concrete dam, which is 124 feet tall, creates the 11-mile-long impoundment upriver of the dam known as Lake Zoar, which is heavily used for recreation.

The DOT plans to construct a new $40 million bridge across the Housatonic River to replace the antiquated, deteriorating bridge atop Stevenson Dam, but that span will not be completed until about 2010. Those bridge plans are under review by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The new bridge would be constructed about 250 feet upriver of the existing bridge atop Stevenson Dam. The Housatonic River at Lake Zoar would remain at its current level during the bridge construction project. The new bridge would be designed to last 80 years.