NORWALK, Conn. — Workers on Friday began removing a bridge over a Connecticut highway that was damaged in a fiery crash involving a gasoline tanker — a project that is expected to keep both sides of Interstate 95 closed through the weekend and remain a traffic nightmare cause damage to the main thoroughfare connecting New England. and New York.
Crews tore down the metal fencing on the span in Norwalk before a large excavator began demolishing the concrete sides of the structure. Heavy equipment was brought in at night. Governor Ned Lamont said the hope is to reopen the highway Monday morning.
Traffic on both sides of the highway was diverted from three lanes to exit-only lanes, while motorists were diverted to local streets around the crash site. Live streams showed cars and trucks slowly creeping up the exit ramps. The state Department of Transportation said travel time was more than an hour for the 16 miles from the New York border to Route 7 in Norwalk at I-95 north.
The accident happened around 5:30 a.m. on the south side of the highway. The tanker, containing about 32,000 gallons of gas, burst into flames under the Fairfield Avenue bridge after colliding with a tractor-trailer and a car. Officials said no one was seriously injured. The cause of the wreck was still under investigation.
“The heat from the burning fuel has affected part of the bridge, so that bridge will have to be demolished and demolition will begin first thing tomorrow morning,” Lamont said during a briefing in Hartford on Thursday.
About 160,000 vehicles travel in both directions on that stretch of I-95 daily, officials said.
Norwalk schools were closed Friday and Mayor Harry Rilling urged local employers to consider allowing employees to work from home.
Text alerts were sent to residents of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and trucking companies using the section of I-95 were notified to find alternate routes and means of travel. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in social media posts that federal highway officials are working with Connecticut authorities.
The accident has significantly increased traffic on other highways and secondary roads. The area’s main alternate route, the Merritt Parkway, cannot be used by trucks because the underpasses are too low.
The accident was reminiscent of a fatal crash last year in Philadelphia, when a tractor-trailer carrying gasoline along I-95 lost control and caught fire, destroying part of the highway.
Thursday’s accident also came just over a year after a similar wreck on I-95 in Connecticut, which also forced the highway to be closed. In that accident in April 2023, a fuel truck caught fire after colliding with a stationary car on the Gold Star Memorial Bridge between New London and Groton. The driver of the tanker truck was killed. The crash closed the southern side of the bridge for hours, while the northern side was briefly closed. The driver of the car was recently charged with negligent homicide.