DOT revives plan for new bridge at Stevenson Dam

The Stevenson Dam carries Rt. 34 over Lake Zoar and the Housatonic River, seen here from Monroe looking toward Oxford Aug. 30, 2017. The Stevenson Dam carries Rt. 34 over Lake Zoar and the Housatonic River, seen here from Monroe looking toward Oxford Aug. 30, 2017. Photo: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close DOT revives plan for new bridge at Stevenson Dam 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

The state Department of Transportation is proposing a new bridge at Stevenson Dam that connects Oxford and Monroe.

It says the current bridge that runs on top of the 99-year-old is “structurally deficient and functionally obsolete bridge.”

The design for a new bridge - talked about for decades - would be completed in September 2023 with construction starting in the spring of 2024.

Earlier plans for a new bridge had it upstream behind the dam. But there was concern that any construction near the dam would disturb PCBs in soil and river sediment. For decades, a GE had deposited PCBs into the river from a manufacturing plant near Pittsfield, Mass.

The latest plans would have the new bridge downstream away from the dam.

The existing span is part of the original bridge and dam facility constructed in 1919 and later modified in 1955 to include two spans over the two gates at the spillway on the north end of the dam. Stevenson dams the Housatonic River, creating the 1,063-acre reservoir was named Lake Zoar.

The present bridge has 90-degree turns on both sides of the dam and poor visibility, leading to a high level of accidents. DOT says 9,200 vehicles a day pass over the bridge each day.

“The department has determined that routine maintenance, as well as limited scope rehabilitation projects performed on the existing structure have been ineffective at improving the condition of and maintaining the long-term viability of the bridge,” DOT said in a release.

“Therefore, a complete bridge replacement is being proposed. It is anticipated that the proposed bridge cross-section will include two 12-foot travel lanes, two 8-foot shoulders, and a 5-foot sidewalk on one side of the bridge.”

A plan from the 1990s had the new bridge about 250-feet above the dam. That plan was opposed by hundreds of people at a public hearing, many with environmental concerns. Many favored improving the existing bridge instead paying $37 million for a new one.

In 2012, a study examined alternatives to put the new bridge downstream from the dam. The study evaluated nine alternates and concluded that two downstream alternates can be advanced.

“Primary controls on the new location of the bridge include maintaining the existing railroad tracks in Monroe, maintaining access to the Stevenson Dam and powerhouse complex, minimizing impacts to the Housatonic River floodplain and floodway, maintaining local road connectivity in Oxford, maintaining a canoe port age, and meeting highway design speed values. Impact on bald eagle winter feeding habitat located downstream of the dam is also a concern.” the study found.

The new bridge project would be paid with 80 percent federal and 20 percent state funds.

The project would move ahead “assuming acceptance of the project, availability of funding and receipt of any required right-of-way and environmental permits.”

In the future, the state will hold public hearings on the latest bridge plan for Stevenson Dam.