The governor has suspended all routine roadwork on highways in lower Fairfield County until further notice as more drivers take to the highways to avoid the Metro-North train nightmare caused by a power issue.
A feeder cable serving a portion of the New Haven Line's electric fleet failed yesterday and Gov. Dannel Malloy has directed the state Department of Transportation to hold off on the routine maintenance work, specifically on Interstate 95, the Merritt Parkway, the Post Road, Route 7, Route 123 and other busier secondary roads, to ease the expected increased congestion cause by the power disruption.
Malloy has warned that repairs to the equipment could take “as long as three weeks or more.”
“Needless to say, I am frustrated at this situation and continue to press the folks at Con Ed and Metro-North to fix it as quickly as possible. But until the problems are alleviated, we need to take whatever steps we can to help mitigate congestion on roadways,” Malloy said. “Our state transportation crews have halted all routine road work in the area and are working to ensure that the expected increase in traffic moves safely and efficiently.”
The work that has been halted includes mowing, patching, catch basin brush clearing, tree trimming and line striping.
Bridge maintenance is being done at night, and any night work will be stopped and cleared by 6 a.m., according to Malloy’s office.
According to the governor, work on the lane expansion project along I-95 in Norwalk has been suspended until further notice and there will be no lane closures except for emergency situations.
The state’s DOT’s Service Patrols, large trucks with flashing lights to assist drivers whose vehicles have broken down, have been placed at several points along I-95 to help get cars off the road as quickly as possible and to assist with other congestion mitigation.
Updates on the Metro-North situation continue to be posted on DOT’s website and on Metro-North’s website.
