New Haven Independent

“It took four years to build the George Washington Bridge — with wheelbarrows!” cried one disgruntled man in the crowd of 60 neighbors gathered for a meeting with DOT and project engineers.

“You bite off more than you can chew!” said another Morris Cove resident, Lawrence Morico, to DOT officials. “You’ve got every damn bridge in this area knocked down. You can’t finish anything you start.”

Others were happy for a chance at a first-hand scoop on how the massive, $1.4 billion harbor corridor improvement plan would affect their neighborhood. The many-pronged DOT plan establishes commuter and freight rail, expands I-95 in New Haven and surrounding towns, and replaces the aging Q-Bridge with a 10-lane, cable-suspended spectacle (architect’s rendering pictured, with special-occasion spotlights flicked on). See the DOT’s impressive, up-to-date web site for full details.

Branford already has an extra lane on its stretch of I-95. Construction has started on the section that runs through New Haven’s East Shore — the mile from the Q-Bridge to the East Haven/ New Haven line. When will it end? How will it be done? Neighbors had many questions.

The state’s already dug pits and razed nearby buildings, like the Woodward School, to make way for the widened I-95, which will expand to eight lanes as it approaches the Q-Bridge from the east. To get the job done, three bridges that cross I-95 need replacement: Woodward, Townsend and Forbes Avenues.

Neighbors worried the bridge-fixing would plug key passageways and throw East Shore traffic into mayhem. Not so, vowed the DOT’s construction project manager, Chris Gallucci (pictured); bridges will be built in stages, keeping two of the four lanes open at all times. That’s how the Q-Bridge will be built, too: one half kept open while the other half’s built, keeping six lanes open at all times.

The news brought relief to John Cirello, who was so frustrated with lack of knowledge about the Q-Bridge project that he decided to run for state representative. His big concern was that the state would “close the Townsend bridge, make us go over Woodward Avenue for six months,” and vice versa. “I was very impressed with the plan.”

The Forbes bridge is finished; the Woodward bridge is set to finish in May 2007, and the Townsend bridge would finish in May 2008, said project engineer, Joe D’Agostino of Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, Inc.

As for the Q-Bridge, the bid went out Wednesday, said Gallucci. Construction’s set to start in May 2007 and finish in a year that brought laughter and heckling — 2014.

At the end of a PowerPoint show, Gallucci fielded neighbors’ concerns, especially from those living near construction, which goes on from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., complete with blazing lights and concrete-busting tools.

What about those jackhammers banging away at night? Gallucci said workers have introduced a quieter alternative – “a shear that grabs the concrete and squeezes it” — but the tool can’t be used deep in the ground.

“Those [construction] lights are shining right in my bedroom windows. It looks like daylight in my bedroom!” said MaryEllen Volano (pictured in pink). Gayle Aceto (pictured at left) complained of a huge pile of construction waste outside her home — both live in the Prospect Woods apartment complex.

Despite their complaints of dust and noise, the two were confident their concerns were heard. They left the meeting upbeat: “The final thing is going to be that we’ll have a nice new bridge,” said Volano.

“It’ll be a beautiful view of the bridge — we’ll have a nice new view,” said Aceto.

Alderman Al Paolillo, who organized the meeting as a way to keep neighbors in the loop, said quarterly meetings are planned as the project proceeds.

“We’re going to have to be a little bit patient, especially the neighbors here,” said Annex resident Edward Flynn, Jr., on his way out the door. “The traffic will flow — people have to be patient.”