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B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

The bypass road through Fairfield Hills finally may be proceeding on schedule

but it looks like the new railroad bridge over Church Hill Road could be

delayed as long as a year -- or may not be built at all.

First Selectman Bob Cascella met Monday with representatives of the State

Department of Transportation, State Rep Julia Wasserman and Fred Hurley,

Newtown's public works director, to discuss the status of both projects.

"The railroad brige work won't begin in the spring of 1997," Mr Cascella said.

"It looks like it will be delayed for six to 12 months because the railroad

has to move its tracks and the work is turning out to be much more involved

than had been expected."

Tim Gaffey, DOT project manager, said the cost of the track relocation, which

would be paid through state and federal funding, appears to be much higher

than anticipated so the project has to be re-evaluated.

"We're looking at three options," he said. "The first is proceeding as planned

with the track relocation. The second is lowering the road under the bridge.

The third - and this just comes to mind as we speak - is raising the bridge

itself along its existing alignment."

Mr Gaffey said the major advantage of lowering the road is that it would

eliminate the need for a new bridge. Lowering the road would, however, require

digging up the roadbed and relocating all utilities: gas, electric, telephone,

water, and the new sewer line which was laid this summer.

Lowering Route 6/Church Hill Road also would be a major disruption for

traffic, particularly during rush hour. It would require lowering the

driveways of businesses along the road and also would require additional

bridge design work to lower the footings.

Lowering the road also wouldn't enable the DOT to someday widen the road to

four lanes, an option which would exist if a new bridge is built, Mr Gaffey

said.

"My gut feeling is that lowering the road isn't really an option," he said.

"But we have to determine the cost of each option and weigh the cost against

the other factors."

"We're not back to square one, but we are facing a delay," he said.

The design of the new $2.5 million bridge by DOT engineers was completed this

summer and plans had been to send the project out to bid by December. Final

plans have to be approved by the Federal Highway Administration because the

project is being financed 80 percent by the federal govenment and 20 percent

by the state. No local funding is required.

The existing bridge, built about 1929, carries one track of the Danbury

Terminal Railroad Company. The clearance underneath is only 12-feet, 7-inches,

an impossible squeeze for most tractor-trailer trucks, 24 of which struck the

bridge in a two-year period. The new bridge was to have a vertical clearance

of at least 14-feet, 6-inches.

During the construction period the existing bridge was to have been moved five

feet to the west (toward the flagpole) so that rail traffic could continue.

The new bridge, 102-feet long, then would be built about 16 feet to the east

(toward Wire Road) on an angle between the abutments.

Mr Hurley said the DOT's reevaluation of the project, called a

"constructability review," is a normal step that takes place in any major

construction project. "This is the point where the true cost comes out in a

rather glaring fashion," he said.

"The problem in this project is that the coordination (between the DOT and the

railroad) is a nightmare and that starts to jack up the cost," he said.

Mr Hurley agreed that it isn't likely that the road can be lowered the 12 or

more inches which would be required.

"There's even a storm culvert down there (under the bridge) that the DOT

wasn't aware of," he said.

About five years ago Mr Hurley and Ron Bolmer, the town engineer, had proposed

lowering the roadbed about six inches and jacking up the bridge six inches, a

proposal which wasn't seriously considered by the state at that time.

The DOT has estimated that 10,000 to 12,000 vehicles go under the bridge each

day. Mr Hurley said many of the traffic problems along the road should

eventually be alleviated by the construction of the bypass road through

Fairfield Hills.

Motorists using Mile Hill Road this week may have noticed a pile of pipe

alongside the road. The pipe is to be installed by Yankee Gas as a preliminary

step to building the bypass road.

"You're starting to see the installation of utilities there," Mr Hurley said.

"It's not exactly a ribbon-cutting but you are actually seeing the beginning

of the project."