Delays ahead on major Valley road
Michael P. Mayko
Updated 5:56 am, Wednesday, April 22, 2015
DERBY -- If the delays on the Route 34 bridge crossing into downtown haven't gotten you down yet -- get ready to get on the bus.
Now the section of Division Street where Metro-North's Waterbury branch runs will be closed for at least a week beginning Friday as a new railroad crossing signal is installed and old track removed.
"The average daily traffic on Division Street in the vicinity of the rail crossing is approximately 21,400 vehicles per day," said Stephen P. Curley, a DOT engineer.
Not only will that section of the road be closed between Burger King and Stop & Shop, but there will be no train service between Waterbury and Bridgeport. The nearly 460 daily riders who use the Waterbury Branch will be shuttled by bus to Bridgeport from Sunday to May 3, said Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders.
That means everyone who boards the train at the Ansonia, Derby, Seymour, Beacon Falls, Naugatuck and Waterbury stations will now be riding a bus to Bridgeport.
"It's got to be done. Unfortunately, this is the busiest road between Derby and Ansonia," said Carmen DiCenso, a Derby alderman.
Potential bus riders should consult the Connecticut Department of Transportation (
www.ct.gov/dot) or Metro-North (
www.mta.info/mnr) websites for departure times.
"The first few days are going to be hectic," DiCenso said. "Then you consider the ongoing construction on the Route 34 bridge, things will only be more hectic."
DiCenso said large signs advising drivers of the detours placed on both the east and west side of Division Street and on Pershing Drive would be a big help.
Work will begin with the removal of five miles of old track that already has been replaced along the 27-mile Waterbury Branch. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will give the track to Central New England Railroad and the Naugatuck Railroad companies in the hopes of spurring additional freight service.
"Lots of specialized equipment -- flat cars and cranes -- will be occupying this single-track branch for nine days," Anders said.
While that work is going on, Anders said the Division Street railroad crossing will be replaced.
"Metro-North is taking advantage of the track outage ... to renew the crossing," she said. "This crossing has a very high vehicle use and the rubber crossing surface is worn out."
She said there could be 15 to 25 workers digging up the old ballast, installing new ballast and track, surfacing the new track and installing a surface for the crossing before paving it, as well as placing the new signal and crossing bar. During this time, payloaders, dump trucks, cranes, backhoes, compactors and rollers will be used.
Anders said the final product will be "a big improvement."
Metro-North will bill the Connecticut Department of Transportation for the estimated $260,000 cost.
Derby is not the only crossing slated for an upgrade this summer.
Anders said the others are in New Canaan on Camp Avenue, Hoyt and Grove Street, and possibly Crescent Street.
However, Anders said the upgrades are contingent on the Connecticut Department of Transportation shutting down tracks while working on the bridge that carries the trains over the Merritt Parkway.
"Last weekend ... the New Canaan Line was out of service so the Connecticut Department of Transportation could do some testing on the bridge to help design the repair," she said.
Consideration also is being given to replacing the Perry Avenue crossing in Norwalk, which is part of the Danbury Branch.
Once the Waterbury Branch begins running again, its passengers will not make transfers in Bridgeport, but at a temporary station in the Devon section of Milford. The station will have lights and a public address system.
"They will walk 25 feet or so and board a train," Anders said.
That's because the final $1 million phase of a $5.8 million repair project on the Devon bridge in Milford is taking place.
Anders said repairs to steel and installation of a new wooden deck and new rails will be completed over the next six months on the 1,067-foot-long bridge, built in 1904. The bridge carries the New Haven Line's four tracks over the Housatonic River.
Once the repair work is completed in October, the temporary Devon station will be removed and the Waterbury Branch will resume transfers in Bridgeport.
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