Work on bridge will be for the best

6/21/07
It turns the daily commute from aggravating to intolerable. It can turn a 5-mile hop into a 90-minute nightmare. It’s indisputable — no one likes highway construction.
Sometimes, though, it really is necessary. When a heavily traveled bridge is showing signs of getting older, it’s probably time to get to work. So though no one is looking forward to the idea of construction on the Moses Wheeler Bridge, connecting Milford and Stratford over the Housatonic River on Interstate 95, it’s the kind of project that no one would argue has to get done.
But it’s going to get rough for a while. Starting this summer, the state Department of Transportation will get to work on repairs for the existing bridge, all so they can tear the whole thing down when they build a new one. The bridge is due for replacement, but officials have determined that the old one won’t last until the new one is ready, and so another phase has been added to the project.
The work will total $117 million, with the vast majority of that going toward the new bridge. About $7 million is set aside for patching and repairs on the current structure. And when the state is willing to spend that kind of money on a span that’s about to be put out to pasture, it’s clear the work is seriously needed.
Commuters can take heart, though. Up the river a few miles, the Sikorsky Bridge, which carries the Merritt Parkway between the two shorelines, has been replaced to everyone’s benefit. The old one sent shivers down the spines of the heartiest travelers, what with its metal grate surface that made a driver feel like the car was about to careen off into the river at any moment. Now, the double-span replacement, complete with walking trails to connect the nonmotorized among us, is a testament to how these things ought to be done.
Despite the Wheeler repair work, the existing bridge won’t be closed completely at any time until the new one is ready. But still, anyone who has tried to drive I-95 late at night knows those one-lane-only travel times in the overnight hours can back up traffic for miles. There really is no time of day when you can safely assume you will reach your destination in a decent time frame.
But if all goes well, the new bridge will be worth it. The state has, at the very least, set a good example farther north.