Northbound Gold Star Bridge to undergo further concrete repairs this week
Nov. 15—After pouring fast-setting concrete last Friday to fix a patch of deteriorated concrete on the northbound Gold Star Memorial Bridge, crews were scheduled to make more repairs on Wednesday and Thursday nights, according to the state Department of Transportation.
DOT Spokesman Josh Morgan said the DOT will keep two lanes open on the northbound span during the work, as opposed to last Friday, when only one lane was open.
"It should not have too much impact on traffic since we're going to be doing this in the overnight hours," Morgan said.
The DOT on Friday closed three left lanes of the northbound span of the bridge, which carries Interstate 95 over the Thames River between New London and Groton, to make emergency repairs, leading to significant traffic gridlock for hours in the surrounding area.
Morgan said that in one area of the bridge, the concrete that fills the gap between two interlocking bridge sections to ensure a smooth travel lane had deteriorated.
He said a wet season and plummeting temperatures left cracks in the concrete, and vehicles traveling over it compounded the damage. Pieces of concrete were coming out onto the roadway, so the DOT removed an 8 inch-by-40 foot section of the road and poured in new concrete.
He said there were no structural problems with the bridge.
Morgan said time was of the essence on the busy Friday, which was Veteran's Day observed, so the DOT used quick-setting concrete, which allowed it to reopen the lanes in six hours.
Now, Morgan said, the DOT will pour polymer concrete, which is longer-lasting and better suited for the conditions, but also takes more time to apply and to dry.
Morgan said the DOT will close the two left lanes and shoulder starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday and work overnight until 5 a.m. Thursday. The agency will close the two right lanes and shoulder at 7 p.m. Thursday and work overnight until 5 a.m. Friday.
Morgan said the DOT has received four reports of damaged vehicles or tires from Friday's incident, which have been referred to the agency's claims unit. He said it will take time to determine the cost of the damage.
Unrelated to Friday's incident, there were two crashes Tuesday on the southbound bridge.
DOT: 'no safety concerns'
Morgan said anytime there is any incident on the bridge, inspectors take a look to ensure it's safe to reopen travel lanes.
"There were no safety concerns in terms of the structural integrity of the bridge," Morgan said.
"We know that bridge is a critical link between New London and Groton for economic activity for thousands of vehicles every single day. We would shut it down if it was unsafe," he reiterated. "Safety is our top priority here, and we were out there Friday doing those repairs, inspecting it and making sure that it was safe. We would never allow conditions to be unsafe."
Meanwhile, the DOT is working on a project to repair and strengthen the northbound span, which 60,000 vehicles drive across each day and currently has weight restrictions.
According to a 2019 inspection, the northbound side's deck and superstructure were rated as "poor" and its foundation was rated as "fair," but the DOT has said the bridge is safe to drive on.
Morgan said Friday's incident does not have an impact on the construction schedule for that project.
As part of the project, drivers will see cones, barrels and periodic lane closures, but not necessarily workers, because crews have been working on platforms underneath the bridge to strengthen the trusses supporting the bridge and remove and replace old bolts and rivets.
He said the current phase will be completed in the summer of 2025. The next phases will be completed in 2029.
People stuck in traffic for hours
Katelynne Pluss of Mystic, who is pregnant, said she left Lawrence + Memorial Hospital Friday afternoon, and became stuck in traffic on Water Street in New London for three hours, which she said can be dangerous for a 38-week pregnant woman, as pregnant women are advised to get up regularly to prevent blood clots.
"I feel as though it could've been smoother if there was someone to help control traffic," she added. "I was almost hit multiple times and had people scream obscenities at me. In all my years I've never experienced anything like that."
Norwich resident Ann Shapiro, who is the executive director of Connecticut Storytelling Center, said she left her office on State Street in New London at 3:45 p.m. Friday. She said it took three hours just to get past Mr. G's Restaurant on Williams Street.
"It was total gridlock," she said.
On Monday, she had to drive across the Gold Star Bridge, but it caused anxiety. She said she doesn't want to go over the bridge due to the ongoing construction and the issue on Friday.
When she was returning, she decided to go another route.
"I will avoid it if I can," Shapiro said of the bridge. "I will hold my breath if I have to go over it."
Sam Cillino of North Stonington, who works in construction in Waterford and crosses the bridge daily, called Friday's gridlock "ridiculous" and assumed it must have been an accident because road work would never back up traffic like that. Cillino was lucky and able to get to Route 32 and head back to North Stonington via Interstate 395 by Mohegan Sun.
"I was arriving home as some of my coworkers were just approaching the bridge," said Cillino.
Cillino said he didn't have concerns about the safety of the bridge.
John Ackley of Stonington spent two hours trying to get from the Crystal Mall in Waterford to the bridge. He said many people were using their navigational software to find routes through unknown neighborhoods.
He was impressed by how civilized 99% of the people were. He said they were being polite, taking turns, and did not blow their horns.
Morgan said that when a major crash in April shut down the southbound span, the DOT was trying to think of what potential long-term detours could be in place, if needed. He said on Friday, there was one travel lane open on the northbound span, and the focus was on getting the highway quickly reopened and not on establishing a detour.
Mystic resident Jonathan Towne was driving across the bridge at 3 p.m. Friday to go to Home Depot and saw all the traffic on the northbound side, but figured it would be gone by the time he came back. When he came home around 4:45 p.m., he checked the traffic and saw it still backed up on I-95.In addition, I-395 was also backed up to the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge.
He said he got onto I-95 by Town Fair Tire and it took an hour and 20 minutes to go less than a mile to where there was one lane open on the far right side of the bridge.
He said ironically, the toilet he purchased on Friday was the wrong size for the space in his bathroom, and he had to return it the next day and get a different one.
He said overall it's nice to know that the DOT is working on the bridge to address its age.
Towne, who is retired and used to cross the bridge every day, said the bridge is obviously a bit of a bottleneck, but it seems that since the COVID-19 pandemic, people are driving faster. He said people need to drive carefully.
Morgan said speeding, reckless driving, aggressive driving, and distracted driving are happening on a daily basis in communities across the state, and a lot of conversations are happening about the effects of the pandemic on people's driving behavior.
"We definitely need people to slow down," Morgan said. "We need people to drive sober, and we need people to put their phones away. So many of these crashes can be preventable if people were just following those very simple and common-sense practices."
Buses impacted too
Southeast Area Transit District General Manager Michael Carroll said SEAT did not suffer any damages to its bus fleet due to Friday's incident, but any closures on the bridge ― and the re-routing of traffic to local roads that cannot handle the demand ― significantly impact bus service.
Last Friday, SEAT lost at least two hours of transit service, due to the traffic gridlock, on all New London routes and on the three routes that cross the bridge, he said.
Carroll said when the Gold Star Bridge was shut down after the fatal tanker accident and fire last April, numerous buses were stuck in traffic for nearly four hours.
"Our team does the best it can under the circumstances to continue to serve the public, but buses share the road and are impacted in the same way as the average motorist by these closures," Carroll said.
