I‑95 West River Bridge Opens Ahead Of Schedule

With the days of his administration winding down, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has been keeping up a steady schedule of public appearances.

He latest local appearance was Thursday, when he came to the New Haven-West Haven town lines to mark the opening of the West River Bridge on I‑95 and press for the continued modernization of the state’s infrastructure.

With the busy traffic sounds of I‑95 humming in the background, Malloy and state Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker held a short press conference near the underpass of the bridge to celebrate the bridge’s completion.

The bridge, which connects New Haven to West Haven on Kimberly Avenue, was originally opened in 1958. It had to be replaced because of the ​“wear and tear” of fierce New England weather and 136,400 vehicles a day crossing the bridge, according to Redeker.

The northbound lanes on the bridge opened to traffic earlier this week; the southbound lanes opened May 23, according to ConnDOT.

The West River Bridge’s reconstruction began in 2014, according to ConnDOT. It was slated to reopen in the fall of this year but was completed ahead of schedule. But being early didn’t reduce the cost of the project, which was estimated to run the state $130 million. The replacement bridge has cost the state $141 million.

“The new bridge includes three lanes of traffic in each direction and full shoulders, designed to reduce lane closures if there is a crash or police activity on the bridge,” according to a press release from the governor’s office. ​“The work was completed while maintaining six lanes of traffic northbound and southbound.”

Redeker said the bridge is one of the last remaining weight-restricted bridges in the I‑95 corridor.

“[It’s] another example of what investing in our infrastructure and means relieving congestion and improving conditions and ultimately supporting our economy,” Redeker said.

Malloy said that new methods were used to rebuild the bridge that reduced the disruption of traffic and being able to do that saves time for passengers. He said that is going to be important as the state moves forward with the billions of dollars in projects that are in the infrastructure pipeline to help the state compete with Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey.

“We need to build a first-class transportation system,” he said. ​“We’ve had some success in the legislture. We did get thme to advance money from car sales into transportaiton fund so it is in balance until 2022. The legislautre is going to have do more things to keep the fund in balance for the billions of dollars in projects that need to be completed in the not too distant future.”

Malloy said the state has a catch-up plan on the state’s infrastructure needs but it will be put on hold if lawmakers and his successor can’t find a permanent fix.

“I remind our fellow citizens that for the economy to advance in the way we want it to do and with the recent announcement of thousands of jobs coming to Connecticut, we’re going to have to give those folks the transportation system that allows us to be competitive and attract the kind of workers that companies need to be successful,” he said.

Major elements of the project, according to the governor’s office, included:
• Temporary trestles in the West River for access to pile supported pier locations, erection of structural steel and demolition of the existing bridge
• Temporary highway construction to accommodate traffic shifts
• Reconstructing highway approaches and exit ramps to access Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Kimberly Avenue
• Constructing the new West River bridge piers and superstructure
• Demolishing the existing West River Bridge
• Replacing I‑95 Bridge over Ella T. Grasso Boulevard
• Constructing drainage improvements.

Click on the Facebook Live video below to catch the press conference.