A 27-month headache!
“Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night!”
Bette Davis made that quote famous in the classic movie “All About Eve,” for West Haveners the “bumpy night” is going to be a 27-month-long purgatory of reconstruction along the Exit 43 entrance and exit ramps.
Last month, the Department of Transportation announced a project to demolish and reconstruct two bridges on the highway. One is the First Avenue overpass, and the other is the long expanse over the Metro-North railroad tracks. The DOT terms both bridges to be “in poor condition,” and in need of replacement.
It is hard to remember that I-95 opened in 1958. To put it into perspective, the tracks underneath the highway were owned by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, one of the largest passenger carriers in the nation at the time. Much has changed since President Dwight Eisenhower was in office, but the infrastructure along Connecticut’s I-95 corridor has not.
No one doubts the spans need replacement. The bridge over the tracks has been named several times as one needing rehab. The First Avenue viaduct is not one of those mentioned heretofore, but it makes one wonder what other overpasses need a little TLC.
Regardless of the need, the reality of rerouted and piecemeal reconstruction is going to make traveling into the city, around the city and out of the city difficult at best. Since the Exit 44 reconstruction eight years ago, commuters have stayed away from the new configuration, opting for other exits. Getting to those “other exits” will be made more difficult once the project is begun.
The key takeaway from the DOT is this line in its brochure about the project:
“During the demolition of the existing bridges and construction of the new bridges, the I-95 northbound interchange 43 entrance ramp will be closed. Traffic that enters I-95 northbound at this location will be re-routed onto other stateowned roadways in the City of West Haven and City of New Haven, utilizing the I-95 northbound interchange 44 entrance ramp. These detours will be in place for approximately 27 months. Detailed information on the detour routes will be posted to the project website.”
While there is no cost analysis in the public information, there is confirmation the project will last for the next two-and-a-quarter years once begun.
Getting into and out of the city – always a daunting task in the best of times – will be made even more daunting with the new detours and reroutes. Might we suggest the city attempt to reopen Water Street to alleviate some of the congestion? Held up once before, the situation might be serious enough that whatever hurdles stand in the way, the situation is such the street needs opening.
Besides traffic, this makes us wonder about the future of the former Haven project property as well as other projects in the city. Difficulty in accessing an area means people stay away.
We urge our readers to stay informed. We will do our part to help in that regard. We urge the city and state to act with dispatch in getting this project done. We urge everyone to resign themselves to the fact that the 27 months from beginning to completion will not be an easy time for anyone.