Bridge Construction To Close US 1, Detour I-95 At Exit 9 In Stamford, Conn. On 2 Upcoming Weekends
STAMFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- Here's a commuter alert, 30 days in advance.
This one is a biggie.
In order to replace a critical piece of infrastructure in Stamford, there will be a shutdown of busy US 1 and a major detour on Interstate 95 during two big getaway weekends, CBS2's Tony Aiello reported Wednesday.
As many as 110,000 daily vehicles use I-95 below and 17,000 on the Post Road US 1 bridge above. Work planned at Exit 9 on 95 will have a massive impact on the weekends of May 31 to June 3, and June 7-10.
"Starting at about 11 o'clock on that first Friday, which will be May 31, I-95 as you see it right now will be closed," Connecticut State Police Sgt. Robert Derry said.
Derry said it will impact countless travelers heading into and home from New England. The Post Road bridge will be ripped out and new sections moved into place. US 1 will be closed and I-95 traffic will be detoured around the construction at 20 mph.
At nearby Beverage Barn, they're predicting traffic.
"Armageddon! Right now, it's completely erratic. Everybody doesn't know what to do," employee Josh Boxer said.
Planners say there will be detours posted but still advise avoiding the area. You may have seen gigantic bridge pieces taking shape at Exit 9. On Wednesday, Aiello climbed up top for a closer view.
You can imagine how hard they've worked to make sure the bridge pieces will fit. Each is 125 feet long. They've got two inches to spare when they go to drop them on the Post Road.
It's called "accelerated bridge construction." The Connecticut Department of Transportation said using traditional techniques would have meant on and off lane closures for three years.
"It's two weekends of a little bit of pain instead of three years of a long death," the state DOT's Lou Eveno said. "There's less overhead, less time. Time is money. There's less weather impacts because you're working in a shorter window of time."
Again, the weekends are May 31 and June 7. You have been warned.
For more information on this project, please click here.