CT officials hope to open I-95 by Monday as demolition of bridge continues following fiery crash

State officials are now hoping to have both sides of Interstate 95 in Norwalk re-opened by Monday morning as demolition of an overpass began early Friday, just over 24 hours removed from a fiery crash involving a fuel tanker truck and two other vehicles that has kept the highway shut down.

“This is a team effort and where we are today is remarkably further than I thought we would be when this first happened,” Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling said at a news conference Friday afternoon where he was joined by Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and other officials.

Demolition crews could be seen working on taking down the Fairfield Avenue overpass in the morning hours after it was determined a day earlier that the bridge would need to be torn down from damages it sustained in the three-vehicle crash early Thursday. The crash was the result of a passenger vehicle sideswiping a tractor-trailer and a tanker carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel, leading to a massive fire that left the overpass with structural damages that were beyond repair, Lamont said at Friday’s news briefing.

An excavator could be seen throughout much of Friday knocking down the compromised overpass while other construction vehicles removed the rubble.

“The shears are coming in, lift off the final piece of this, get the asphalt back in place and hopefully, hopefully — a lot of links in the chain — we get I-95 going in both directions on Monday,” said Lamont.

The governor’s remarks came just a day after he said commuters and truck drivers should expect that I-95 would be shut down “through at least Monday.” In the hours after the crash, Lamont declared a state of emergency that he said would help expedite some of the resources needed to address the highway closure that is expected to snarl traffic in the area for the next several days.

“Stay away, stay away from this area for at least another 72 hours,” Lamont said Friday. “Take the train, stay home, I think you’re going to save yourself a lot of stress.”

According to Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto, DOT crews are expected to continue working through the weekend alongside New York-based Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc.

Once the concrete was removed from the bridge, large shears were expected to be used to remove its beams, Eucalitto said. The debris would be removed after that, followed by the re-surfacing of the road.

Eucalitto said DOT officials would be keeping an eye on the weather outlook for the weekend, as rain predicted Sunday could make repaving the roads impossible. Nevertheless, he said officials are still hoping to have the highway open in both directions in time for the morning commute on Monday.

“My request to the public would be to please be patient,” Eucalitto said, adding that some motorists have become frustrated with traffic buildups in the area and tried maneuvering around other vehicles, even entering the work zones and endangering the crews.

According to Blumenthal, the federal government is expected to cover the costs of the repairs, which he said will total at least $20 million.

“There is Federal Highway Administration money there for emergency relief designed to meet exactly this need,” Blumenthal said.

“We’re going to be demanding money to cover all of the costs,” he continued. “And we have every assurance that the Department of Transportation will provide this emergency relief. So none of the cost is borne by Connecticut taxpayers.”

Traffic diversions are expected to remain in place over the weekend as crews work to meet their Monday morning deadline. According to the state Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, traffic from New York to Boston has been re-routed to from I-95 North to I-287 West and to I-684 North and I-84 East. Traffic from Boston to New York has been diverted from I-84 West to I-684 South and to I-287 East and I-95 South.

In addition to the severe traffic complications that have arisen, the crash and subsequent fire has also raised environmental concerns, as fuel from the tanker truck involved leaked about half of its load following the collision.

According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the tanker truck involved in the crash was carrying about 8,500 gallons of fuel. Though roughly half the fuel leaked out, most of it was consumed by the massive fire that followed, officials said.

Paul Copleman, a spokesperson for DEEP, said crews overnight Thursday and into Friday performed excavation work on the shoulder of the highway, removing about eight to nine “roll-off containers of impacted soil.” The storm drains in the area appeared to be in good shape “with only limited fuel product remaining,” he said.

None of the fuel is believed to have reached the Norwalk River or the Norwalk Harbor, Copleman said. He said crews have been working to remove “product” from retention basins that collect storm water drainage from I-95.

Copleman said crews on Friday were expected to continue cleaning up the storm drains in the area and the retention basins. He also said inspections were expected to take place in the nearby river and harbor to monitor the waters and ensure they were not impacted by the spill.

With traffic in the area expected to be an ongoing issue, the Metro-North Railroad said it would be adding additional New Haven Line service on Saturday and Sunday.

“Some trains will have added train cars and we are adding two westbound trips, departing New Haven at 8:29 a.m. and 9:26 a.m., as well as two eastbound trains, departing Grand Central at 4:53 p.m. and 6:59 p.m.,” the MTA said in a statement.

More information on train departures can be found at mta.info.