I-95 Bridge in Connecticut Reopens Months After Fiery Crash

Traffic flows after the bridge reopened. (Connecticut Department of Transportation)

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NORWALK, Conn. — Exactly seven months after a blaze consumed the Fairfield Avenue overpass spanning Interstate 95, the bridge reopened to traffic in roughly half the expected time and millions of dollars under budget, officials said.

Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Connecticut Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration officials, and a slew of Norwalk’s local representatives met Dec. 2 to cut the ribbon on the brand-new overpass, all lauding the collaborative effort bridging state, local and federal governments.

“I think (Mayor) Harry Rilling knows how to get stuff done,” Lamont said.

The Fairfield Avenue overpass was rendered unusable in May and demolished in less than 80 hours after a collision involving a tractor-trailer, a tanker and a passenger vehicle ignited a fire that fully engulfed the tanker under the bridge. The crash caused a traffic nightmare and closed that section of the highway for days.

Headed to Norwalk this morning to announce that the newly built Fairfield Avenue Bridge is reopening. The original bridge, which crosses over I-95, needed to be demolished after a fiery crash compromised it. This new bridge was completed several months early and under budget. — Governor Ned Lamont (@GovNedLamont) December 2, 2024

Before the deck was poured, crews laid “every utility line you could think of,” including water, fiber, gas and electric lines, in the last two weeks of September, CT DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan said this fall.

At the press conference celebrating the new bridge’s early completion, CT DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said the project was budgeted at $20 million but completed five months early and will likely come in $3.2 million under budget at $16.8 million after all final calculations are made.

Officials said the speedy demolition of the bridge, which closed I-95 for days after the fire, and the rapid installation of its replacement were crucial for the over 100,000 motorists that drive underneath the Fairfield Avenue overpass every day.

The project was paid for by state bond funds this year, Eucalitto said, but the state expects the federal government to reimburse about 90% of Connecticut’s expenses.

Connecticut’s Department of Transportation has worked expeditiously in seven months: The bridge plans were completed in June, crews worked through the summer as travelers bore through traffic from closed shoulders, and the bridge’s concrete deck was poured in the fall.

The project’s rush was clear, though. Morgan said this fall that crews were working to beat winter weather, which likely would have delayed construction. Eucalitto said that overtime work contributed to the swift rebuild effort, although he did not have an estimate of hours or cost.

Rilling said the rapid completion was “an absolute miracle.” But Lamont and Himes said the fast-paced project must become the standard in Connecticut and the country.

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The fire shuts down traffic on May 2. (NBC Connecticut)

Himes said Connecticut suffers from high energy costs and expensive housing — both of which can be solved with quickly built infrastructure modeled after the Fairfield Avenue bridge rebuild’s haste and care.

That can be done by “speeding up the regulatory approval process,” Himes said, and supporting the workforce network of engineers and laborers who get projects to the finish line.

“We need more of the people who build these things,” Himes said.

Lamont agreed, and said that permitting is crucial.

“Don’t lower standards, but speed up the decision-making,” the governor said.

The new bridge is built to federal standards, has wider shoulders that can accommodate bicycle traffic, and has Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant and accessible sidewalks on both sides, Eucalitto said, noting that the bridge is in the same footprint as the old one and is structurally the same.

Eucalitto said there isn’t much DOT could’ve done to fireproof the bridge.

“You can’t really fireproof to 8,500 gallons of gasoline,” the commissioner said, referring to the volumetric load of the tanker that was engulfed in flame beneath the bridge. “Hopefully, they will not crash underneath our bridge again with 8,500 gallons of fuel.”