Entrance for I-95 South & Route 7 Closes for 8 Weeks

The on-ramp from West Avenue to U.S. Route 7 and Interstate 95 will be closed for about eight weeks as a contractor reconfigures the entrance and adds a traffic light.

"Hopefully, it won't take that long," said Mike Weosock, a senior engineer in the city Department of Public Works.

Until the ramp is reopened, drivers may find the shortest way to I-95 southbound is to use the Van Buren Avenue (U.S. Route 1) entrance to Route 7 across the street from the Jefferson School. For drivers headed north on Route 7, take the Belden Avenue entrance not far from the courthouse.

The entrance, which splits off to take drivers north to the beginning of Route 7 and to the southbound lanes of I-95, will have more of a right angle with West Avenue, Weosock said. That change should make it easier for trucks driving south on West Avenue to turn onto the ramp, he said.

The ramp is located between the two highway overpasses on West Avenue, each of which is next to an intersection with a traffic light, and just to the north and south of those intersections there are two more traffic lights among the many on West Avenue.

Deering Construction of Norwalk has been contracted for the project. A subcontractor will do the actual work on the traffic light, Weosock said.

When the project is done, a traffic island will be at the intersection, which should make it easier for people to walking on that side of West Avenue, he said.

The project, announced on the city's website on Tuesday, a day after the ramp was closed, has long been planned in conjunction with the closing of the part of Crescent Street, which no longer joins with West Avenue near the I-95 northbound entrance.

Because that end of Crescent Street has been closed as part of the Reed Putnam Urban Renewal Project, trucks can no longer enter West Avenue from there, then drive north to reach the entrance for Route 7 and I-95 southbound lanes.

Trucks and other vehicles from Crescent Street must approach that intersection from the other side. Weosock said the turn there is difficult, especially for larger trucks, because the ramp meets West Avenue at an angle: The ramp's direction is southwest to northeast where it meets West Avenue, which is a north-south street.