UPDATE: Maple Street Bridge Scheduled To Reopen Monday

FILEUpdate: The Maple Street bridge won’t open Friday after all. But Department of Transportation officials say it should be open by Monday afternoon.

We thought we were going to have it open on Friday,” DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick said. 

But the final punch list” won’t be finished by then, Nursick said Thursday afternoon. 

So the state DOT is shooting for Monday afternoon now.

Original story follows:

Michele Gandy can’t wait for the Maple Street bridge to re-open for traffic Friday (Dec. 15) Monday (Dec. 19). 

Gandy, the owner of Michele’s Alterations, recently moved her shop to 50 Main St., near the intersection at the Maple Street bridge. 

But while the state Department of Transportation has been reconstructing the bridge, traffic seems to miss that northern portion of Main Street. 

They’re going another route,” Gandy said. 

The bridge has been closed for repairs since March 2010.

Because of the closure, drivers crossing the Nauguatuck River in downtown Ansonia are forced to use Bridge Street, to the south of Maple Street. Bridge Street drops people off behind the Target, near JRBs.

The drivers then likely miss the northern section of Main Street where Massimino’s Pizza, Crave, and Salvage Alley are located. 

PHOTO: Jodie MozdzerMichele’s Alterations moved there last month, and Gandy said she’s looking forward to having more people learn about the shop as they drive by. 

If you don’t see it, you don’t know it’s there. And you can’t support the business,” Gandy said Thursday. 

The Bridge Repairs

The bridge was closed for emergency repairs in 2009, after a large hole was discovered. Pedestrians could look through the missing asphalt and see the Naugatuck River, officials had said at the time. 

The state Department of Transportation decided the bridge materials were at the end of their life, according to DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick. 

So in 2010, the DOT decided to replace almost everything except for the piers that hold the bridge up. Those piers were reinforced to prevent erosion from the river waters, Nursick said. 

The project was estimated at $3.8 million, but unexpected costs drove it up to $4.2 million, Nursick said. The bridge was also about three months behind schedule.

PHOTO: Jodie MozdzerThose costs came from the utilities — water, gas, electric — that run over the bridge.

All of that stuff has to be moved or rebuilt,” Nursick said. 

The project was paid for by the state and federal government. 

Most of the steel that supports the deck was replaced. A new deck (the asphalt part of the bridge) was built. New bearings — made out of a synthetic rubbery material — were installed between the bridge and the piers. The material is meant to be maintenance free, Nursick said. 

-As long as the line painting was successful Thursday, Nursick said the bridge would be open on Friday. – The bridge is scheduled to be open on Monday. 

The state won’t have a ribbon cutting or ceremony to announce the opening, though. 

The ceremony will be opening this thing up to the public,” Nursick said. 

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