Replacement Starts April 1 for Old Kings Hwy North Bridge Over Interstate 95

Work on completely replacing the Old Kings Highway North Bridge over Interstate 95 is scheduled to start April 1 and will result in lane closures on both the interstate highway and the road.

The project is supposed to end by Nov. 26 (the Sunday after Thanksgiving) and will result in complete closure of Old Kings Highway North over the bridge apparently only on eight overnight periods, the state Department of Transportation announced on Friday.

Darienite.com had reported an official saying in January that state officials expected the bridge to be closed all day for as many as eight days during the project, but that idea is not in the official announcement. Instead, it appears traffic will be able to go over the bridge at some point on every day of the project, especially during commuting times.

The Old Kings Highway North bridge over Interstate 95 in Darien may be as much as 60 years old.

During commuting hours of 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., there won’t even be lane closures over the bridge, according to the announcement (which appears to have been cut off at the bottom on the state Department of Transportation website, leaving out some information on possible lane closures during weekends). Lanes may be closed before 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The $4.54 million project, awarded to New England Road Inc. on Jan. 24, was earlier said to involve eight days of complete road closure, but the official announcement on Friday only mentioned overnight closure of the road.

Interstate 95 may be closed entirely at the bridge, in both directions, for 20-minute periods between midnight and 5 a.m., according to the department.

The DOT Announcement

Here’s the complete announcement from the DOT, as published on the department’s website:

The Connecticut Department of Transporation is announcing the start of Project 35-194 Rehabilitation of Bridge No.00047 Old Kings Highway over I-95 commencing on April 1, 2017, in the Town of Darien.

The project, beginning on April 1, 2017,  consists of the rehabilitation of Bridge 00047  – Old Kings Highway North over I-95 including the complete replacement of the bridge superstructure. DOT Project No. 0035-0194 was awarded to New England Road, Inc. at a cost of $4,540,536.50 on Jan. 24, 2017 and is scheduled to be completed Nov. 26, 2017.

LANE CLOSURE INFO

I-95 Northbound

Monday through Sunday between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. with noted daily exceptions
No lane closures: Monday and Tuesday: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday: 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday between 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; Sunday between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.

I-95 Southbound

Monday through Sunday between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. with noted daily exceptions.

No lane closures: Monday through Thursday: 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m.; Saturday between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.; Sunday between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Between 12:01 and 5 a.m. on all non-holiday days the contractor will be allowed to halt I-95 traffic for a period not to exceed 20 minutes to perform necessary work for the installation and setting of bridge members and for the removal of the existing bridge superstructure.

Old Kings Highway

In order to facilitate the accelerated replacement of the bridge superstructure, Old Kings Highway North will be closed at the bridge site for total not exceeding eight (8) overnight periods.

No lane closures: Monday through Friday: 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. (I-95 Ramps, Old Kings Highway and Local Roads); Saturday and Sunday between 10:00 a.m.