VERNON, CT — The reconstruction of the Dart Hill Road bridge in Vernon is scheduled to resume on March 20 and the work will require a closure and detour from April 10 to May 8.
The bridge project has been under way since last spring and was scheduled to be completed in the fall, but delays termed by officials as “out of the town’s control” are “causing the work this spring.”
Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne in December ordered that the bridge be opened for the holidays with the understanding that the project be completed in the warmer months.
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“The project contractor, Neri Construction, has done fine work on the project and worked hard to overcome the delays forced on it by third parties,” town officials said Wednesday. That “third party” was previously identified as Eversource Energy and the town went as far as to erect a sign blaming the utility for a prolonged closure.
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In mid-December, the road was a little bumpy, but cars in Vernon were passing over the Hockanum River on the bridge and have been without incident since.
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The Connecticut Department of Transportation administered federal funds to fix the aging span totaling $1,333,200 under the Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program. Vernon’s cost-share was about $400,000.
The original hope was to have the bridge worked on all last summer and open in time for the start of school. With eight bus routes using the bridge as well as thousands of residents on an almost daily basis, it was deemed a priority.
Delays pushed the opening to November and then it was pushed to Dec. 15.
Town officials blamed most of the delays on a new natural gas line from Eversource Energy. A temporary pipe was run over the river though the woods and a was being replaced by a larger capacity permanent pipe at the bridge.
The previous detour sent motorists to Windsorville Road, the Five-Corners rotary and Skinner Road to access that neighborhood and Skinner Road School and the Dart Hill corridor to the South Windsor line.
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