Community Corner

Ridgefield Traffic May Suffer when New York Closes two I-84 Bridges

Local roads in Ridgefield, Danbury and New Fairfield may suffer when the New York State Department of Transportation closes I-84 for 18 hours each on two August weekends. The closures will be timed during bridge replacements.

When New York replaces two I-84 bridges near the Danbury line on Sept 21 and concluding Sept. 28, I-84 will be closed on each day for about 18 hours, and cars will detour along Route 6.

Some drivers heading north on 684 might take a detour earlier by choosing Route 35 from Katonah, NY., into Ridgefield to reach Bethel or Newtown without hitting the I-84 slowdown.

"We'll see a lot of traffic off 84 on our secondary roads," said Paul Estefan, emergency management director for Danbury. The I-84 bridges carry traffic east and west over Dingle Ridge Road near the New York line. "It shouldn't really effect the inside of Danbury. It's on the border."

Estefan said the detours east and west bound will be marked on local roads (Route 6,) but drivers who ignore the detour routes and make their own way could crowd Danbury roads. The same is true for Ridgefield on Route 35 or New Fairfield on Mill Town Road. According to the New York Department of Transportation, between 75,000 and 100,000 cars travel I-84 on the Dingle Ridge Road bridges on an average day.

The existing schedule calls for the highway to be closed for at least 18 hours on Sept. 21 from about 5 p.m. Saturday to about 11 a.m. Sunday as the existing highway bridge is demolished and then the new eastbound bridge is slid into place.

A week later scheduled for Sept. 28, during the same hours from late Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, workers will demolish the existing bridge and slide the new westbound bridge into place. Drivers taking I-84 today can see the replacement bridges sitting parallel to the highway. These scheduled could change at any time due to any construction problems weather issues that may arise.


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