From the State Department of Transportation. Website details here:
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is announcing that on June 11, 2016, the “Stage 1 Crossover Plan,” consisting of lane closures, lane shifts, lane realignments and other traffic pattern modifications will take place on Routes 8 and 25 in Bridgeport.
The traffic modifications are necessary to facilitate the rehabilitation and/or replacement of four bridge structures on route 8 in Bridgeport (over Capitol Avenue and Lindley Street), as well as the widening of the exit 4 northbound off-ramp and Lindley Street.
DOT Project 15-363 was awarded to the Design-Build team of Manafort Brothers, Inc. of Plainville, CT and Parsons Brinkerhoff on March 27, for $34,752,000.00, with an official start date of May 11, 2015, and an anticipated completion date of September, 2016. In addition to the use of Design-Build contracting, the project will utilize Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods which will shorten the overall duration of the project while at the same time minimizing impacts to the traveling public.
TRAFFIC IMPACTS
Beginning at 7:00 PM on June 10, lane realignments will start on Routes 8 and 25. During this period motorists should anticipate fluctuating lane closures on both northbound and southbound Routes 8 and 25 to allow for the shifting of lane markings. This work will continue into the pre-dawn hours of June 11.
Ramp Closure: Motorists should be aware that on the evening of June 10th, the Route 8 southbound on-ramp from Chopsey Hill Road will be closed to traffic and remain closed until June 25, 2016. Detours will be posted to guide motorists to the Exit 4 southbound on-ramp on Lindley Street.
By 8:00 AM, Saturday June 11, it is anticipated that all traffic realignments will be completed, and the Stage 1 Crossover configuration will be established. The configuration will remain in effect continuously until the morning of June 25. During this fourteen-day period, the number of lanes on Route 8 will be reduced to three lanes northbound and two lanes southbound between Exit 3 and Exit 5, with Route 8 southbound shifted onto northbound portion of the highway.
Segments of Route 8, Route 1 and various local roads in Bridgeport will be impacted by this project. Motorists should be aware that short term alternating closures of Capitol Avenue and Lindley Streets will be required to facilitate the demolition and reconstruction of the bridges. During these closures, detour routes will be posted to assist motorists in navigating around the work zones.
Don Mario’s Kitchen
Tom McCarthy: Hi Mario, what’s cooking?
Don Mario: Hey Tommy, come on in!
T Mc: Don Mario, sorry for popping in this way, but I have a favor to ask!
D M: Anything for you Tommy, just name it!
T Mc: Well I’m a little bit nervous about the race for the 22nd with Moore and I’m not sure how to handle this, without Joe giving me the nod.
D M: Tommy we go back a long way, I always treated you like son, haven’t I?
T Mc: You have, Don Mario.
D M: Hand me that colander with the squid in it, don’t worry, they’re dead!
T Mc: You scared the hell out me Don Mario, I picture one of those disgusting things stuck to my forehead. People really eat that stuff?
D M: It’s called Calamari! I tell everyone I have it shipped over from my hometown in Italy, the dumb flucks believe me, if they only knew I came from a small mountain village in the Italian Alps.
T Mc: I just don’t know what to do, ever since Joe canned me (McCarthy starts to cry). I, uh, I wouldn’t even have to do anything in Hartford, just be myself. [choking up] Oh, Don Mario, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.
[Don Mario, stands up and shakes Tommy.]
D M: [shouting] You can act like a man!
[Don Mario slaps Tommy.]
D Ma: What’s the matter with you? Is this how you turned out? A finocchio that cries like a woman? [mockingly] “What can I do? What can I do?” What is that nonsense? Ridiculous. You spend time with your family?
T Mc: Sure I do. I have a cat.
D M: Good. Because a man who doesn’t spend time with his flucking cat can never be a real man. [Turns to Tommy] Come here. You look terrible. I want you to eat some of this calamari. I want you to rest a while. And in a few months from now, this big shot chick gonna go down the tubes after she sees the ABs come in. You’ll get what you want.
T Mc: It’s too late, they started knocking on doors this week.
D M: I’m going to make her an offer she can’t refuse. About all this nonsense. I want you to leave it all to me.
T Mc: Are you going to ask Moore and Bradley to get out of the way, so Gomes and I can win?
D M: No, I’m going to ask Lennie to kick Walsh, Mackey, Day and Lee off OIB!!!
I believe the proper Italian would be “what’s a matta for you” not “what’s the matter with you.” And Tommy Mac need not worry when they start knocking on doors, it’s when we start kicking them in.
** *GOD HELP THOSE WHO TRAVEL THAT ROUTE EVERY DAY *** LEAVE VERY EARLY, FOLKS! ***
This “lift-slab” bridge construction sounds really scary. It seems difficult to imagine such unwieldy structures can be moved any significant distance laterally without mishap, much less moved and positioned vertically with the desired effect and without mishap.
The possibility for a bad outcome to this project is very high. Let’s hold our breath and cross our fingers, and steer very wide of 8-25 until the bridges have been in place and tested by lots of heavy truck traffic over a couple of seasons.
*** TIME TO LEAVE EARLY IF YOU TRAVEL THAT ROUTE IN THE AM. ***