Road closures ahead
East Ave. traffic snarls tied to bridge project may start this spring
NORWALK — Overnight and occasional weekend road closures are headed to one of the most heavily trafficked portions of East Avenue starting as early as this spring, according to the state Department of Transportation.
A stretch of East Avenue from Fort Point Street to Winfield Street will see at least 90 overnight road closures and 12 weekend closures over a two-year period starting in May, DOT project manager John Hanifin told East Norwalk residents at a public meeting Thursday.
The road closures are being done in the conjunction with the larger Walk Bridge Project.
The East Avenue portion of the project, which is estimated to cost around $26 million, includes replacing the Metro-North bridge above the roadway and lowering East Avenue to comply with federal clearance regulations.
Rich Bertoli, a project manager from WSP, said the first weekend closure is tentatively scheduled for spring 2021. There is expected to be six weekend closures in the fall, followed by five in the spring of 2022.
“If there is a change in what’s in the schedule, the Walk Bridge PI (project involvement) team will make you aware of these changes,” Bertoli said.
Hanifin estimated the project will likely begin work on utility lines in the area around May 8, while work on the road itself is not scheduled to start until June 21.
In addition to road closures, East Avenue will be reduced to one-lane traffic in each direction from Olmstead Place to Winfield Avenue over the two-year span of the project. Lane closures will be in effect from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. during the day, and from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. overnight.
At the guidance of Norwalk’s Traffic Authority, the state has agreed not to have any weekend closures during July or August. This was done to avoid traffic concerns that could come as a result of increased summer traffic to nearby Calf Pasture Beach, Mayor Harry Rilling said.
There will also be no closures during “major planned local events,” according to Hanifin.
“We have set some guidelines so that it’s not going to be closed at certain times during the summer when we have expected beach traffic or Wednesday night concerts at the beach, so that we don’t send a lot of traffic down through the residential neighborhoods,” Rilling said.
During complete road closures, a detour will send drivers down Fort Point Street and to Van Zant Street, both of which a one-lane roads.
In the past, residents have raised questions about the effect extended road closures could have on a road that sees about 20,500 vehicles per day, according to a city study done in 2019.
East Norwalk Neighborhood Association President Diane Cece said it was “good to see” the state’s latest plan to avoid road closures in July and August, she said they could go a step further.
“The city can tell you there’s heavy beach traffic in the season, which is actually from May to October, so if things could maybe be adjusted, it would be recommended to limit the lane shifts or closures altogether,” she said.
Cece also suggested that, in the event of complete road closures, there be continuous signage guiding drivers around detours, so that unfamiliar drivers don’t get lost in residential areas.
Hanifin said the project team will use “robust” electronic signing to alert drivers when there are road closures and detours in the area.
“And we’ll put out as much advance notice when we can when there is activity with these road closures and weekend closures,” he said.