Early Mornings Of Stonington Railroad Bridge Work Continue

A nightmare. That’s how several Stonington residents describe noise from construction on the two railroad bridges in Stonington Harbor.

Work to replace the more than hundred-year-old and since then residents who live the near the bridges in the north end of by have dealt with nights and early mornings of construction noise.

“It took me awhile to get used to the train horn blaring as it the train passed my house every 15 minutes between midnight and 6 a.m., but I did knowing that the project would end someday,”  a Stonington resident wrote Patch in an email last week. “I thought that someday was going to be this September. Then I thought when Amtrak shut down service on November 5-6 for a day that would be the end. But jack hammers at 4:45 this morning was just too much.”

For residents—., said he has heard several complaints over the past week as well—there will be a few more weeks of early morning construction.

Amtrak Manager of Media Relations Cliff Cole said there would be a 4 a.m., start Tuesday, November 22, and possibly Wednesday November 23, after that a 4 a.m., start may happen once a week with the project expected to be complete by Christmas. Amtrak has to do work so early due to the traffic during the day.

“General site complications,” Cole said delayed the project. In June, officials had announced that the bride replacement but site clean-up work would continue through October and possibility until June. The site delays, however, pushed the replacement of the bridges back to November 5 and November 6 and the cleanup back to November and December.

Work to replace the more than hundred-year-old bridges has been a sore point for residents, Amtrak, and local and federal officials for years. 

When construction finally began in 2010 under Cardi Construction it only lasted a few months before Amtrak, unhappy with the progress, shut down the project, The Day, reported.

The $22.1 million project was supposed to be complete by February of 2011 which was a condition of the project being funded by federal stimulus money. Amtrak in 2011  hired Cinabro, which is responsible for the , to finish the Stonington railroad bridges construction. The February deadline had come and gone, however, and Amtrak had to pick up the tab for the remaining cost.

Cole said the remaining funding came from Amtrak's General Capital Program. As the project is still ongoing, Cole said, the final dollar amount and the breakdown between what the federal stimulus money covered and what Amtrak covered is still being finalized.

Replacement of the two bridges also resulted in Amtrak suspending Northeast Regional service between New York and Boston from 4 p.m. Saturday, November 5 through noon on Sunday, November 6.

Now that the east and west bridges have been replaced, the end to the decades long battle to improve access to the harbor is in sight for residents, Amtrak and state and local officials.

The new bridge spans provide 23 1/8-inches more clearance at the north end of the harbor, giving residents with boats easier access to the harbor and according to an Amtrak press release providing, a more reliable travel experience for Amtrak passengers.

A few more weeks of construction noise and Stonington Harbor will return to a winter quiet zone, hopefully, just in time for Christmas.