DOT to Hold Informational Meeting on Bridge Projects

Representatives from Connecticut's Department of Transportation will hold a public information meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in Room 400 at West Hartford Town Hall.

The department encourages "residents, business owners, commuters and other interested individuals ... to take advantage of this opportunity to learn about the proposed projects" involving the bridges that carry Oakwood and Prospect avenues over Interstate 84.

Plans will be available for review, and DOT personnel will be on hand to answer questions.

The department said in a news release that "the rehabilitation projects are necessary because the existing bridges are structurally deficient due to the extensive vehicular impact damage to the fascia girders of the superstructure and functionally obsolete due to the substandard minimum vertical clearance over I-84."

The Oakwood Avenue bridge project will begin in the spring of 2013 and finish by fall of 2014. After that project is complete, work will begin on the Prospect Avenue bridge. The cost — which will be paid for with federal funds — is expected to be about $6.5 million for each bridge.

For more information or to review the plans by appointment, contact Mary Baker at 860-594-3402 or visit the Office of Engineering, 2800 Berlin Turnpike, Newington, during office hours Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.