An old pile of rocks masquerading as a bridge for the last 100 years is being replaced on Long Ridge Road over the next few months, disrupting traffic. The job is expected to take until spring 2014.
City workers and contractors started narrowing the country road Wednesday with barriers to make it one lane. Solar traffic control signals will let one direction of traffic through at a time. The road is located in southern Danbury in an area near Ridgefield and Bethel.
The bridge is really a collapsing culvert made of rocks and a bit of concrete. The bridge is so damaged, water has carved a 20-foot "V" in the outlet end of the bridge. It is flowing through dirt on all sides of the bridge.
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"It's very damaged," said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.
Danbury Traffic Engineer Abdul Mohammed said Wednesday workers will have to close the road in both directions on some days during the construction. In addition to installing a functioning culvert to carry the water, the hillside below the bridge will require regrading and stone work to stop further erosion.
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Drivers should plan for detours and road closures throughout this time period and should use alternate routes whenever possible.
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