Crews were putting the finishing touches on River Place bridge this week, getting ready to pave the little street on Monday. That will put paid to a project that began in the summer of 2022 and stalled in November of that year when it was discovered that one headwall was not sitting on a firm foundation.
Construction did not begin again until last year after the bridge was redesigned. “They will pave on Monday and then it’s cleanup and landscaping,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska. The foreman on the work site predicted that finishing touches will take a month after the road is again completely open to traffic.
One of the workmen commented on the gracious quality of a neighborhood that has been inconvenienced for three years. “They have been so patient with us when we had our equipment in the way and one lady up the street even brought us cookies,” he said.
A few hundred feet away, on Route 44, crews continue to move forward on the massive project to reconstruct a century-old rubble retaining wall. The multi-year project still has two years to go before it will be complete.
Riiska said that the DOT plans a public meeting in May at Town Hall to describe the progress of the project. Details about the meeting will be announced soon.
Finally, engineers from Cardinal Engineering are still working with DEEP to get approval of plans for a temporary bridge to replace the one washed out on Smith Road in summer 2023.