First, the good news: the bridge work is going well, with the new guardrail on the downstream side already in place. The upstream guardrail is due for installment on Thursday. Meanwhile, workers are armoring the culvert below the bridge with stone.
Which means that this Friday, August 2, the bridge open to two-way traffic over gravel. A small ribbon cutting is planned; DOT Commissioner Victoria Shaheen has been invited.
Now the inevitable news: the road isn’t done. The crews will be turning to culvert repair along Cardigan Mountain Road. The work should last into next week, during which the road will be open for local traffic only. From 8am to 4pm each day, residents may have to wait as long as 15 minutes to get through.
After that, repaving. Five inches of new pavement will be laid down sometime in late summer or early fall, from the Town House to the bridge.