State Shows Off Redo Of Rt. 10 & 322 Crossing – With No Bridge
- Philip Thibodeau
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Anyone who travels through the south end of Southington will be familiar with the unusual way that Route 10 intersects Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike. Briefly acting more like an interstate highway than a state road, Route 10 southbound makes a bend to the left, crosses Meriden-Waterbury on a bridge, then traverses the Ten Mile River on a second bridge before turning into a straight and level thoroughfare headed towards Cheshire. To get from Route 10 south onto Route 322, drivers must take a steep off-ramp that hits 322 very close to its intersection with Old Turnpike Road. As a result of the way these three roads meet, taking a left turn anywhere in this area can be confusing, slow, and stressful.
If these were the only problems with the Route 10/Route 322 intersection, it is possible that the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation would not have attempted to redo these roads that it is responsible for. However, the bridge over 322 is approaching the end of its serviceable lifetime, with a low clearance that prevents some oversized vehicles from using it. In addition, the two bridges over the Ten Mile River are aging and do not let enough water pass through during heavy storms – this stretch of 322 lies within the river’s 100-year floodplain. These are the specific issues that have put the intersection on the state’s radar, and that it intends to address once work starts on the project in the summer of 2028.
Plans to replace the bridges and reconnect the intersection have been in development for over a decade, with the last public forum being held in 2022. At last week’s meeting of Southington’s Public Works Committee, Town Engineer David Nourse played a short video the town recently received from the DOT which clearly lays out two alternative fixes and explains why the second one has been chosen for implementation.
The first, rejected alternative is labeled ‘Bridge Replacement’. In this scenario, the two Eight Mile River bridges and the bridge over 322 would all be demolished and rebuilt. In order to raise 322 out of the flood plain and elevate the Route 10 bridge's clearance, the new bridge would have to be some 7.5’ higher than the current one. That in turn would require earth to be piled up throughout the Norton Street area, as well as the construction of a 400’-long retaining wall. It would also leave the current traffic pattern largely unchanged.
The second alternative is called ‘At-Grade Intersection’. This plan would do away with the bridge over 322 and instead have Route 10 meet Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike by coming down to it, thus allowing the ‘offramp’ to be eliminated. The two bridges over the river would be also rebuilt, and new turn lanes, sidewalks, and signals installed throughout.
The DOT video explains why the second alternative is the one the state plans to implement. Work on it will be completed in seven phases, each one to three weeks long, to ensure that traffic can continue to pass through the area, though with the occasional detour. The total cost for the project is currently estimated at $9.2 million, which will be covered by the state.
The video can be viewed below. Note that the computer-generated narrator pronounces ‘Route’ as ‘rowt’ rather than the traditional New England 'root.'
