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Congress Street Bridge Demolition and Re-construction Project (design-phase completed, project planning complete) – Estimated Cost: $50 million
$50,000,000.00 - 400 jobs - Streets/Roads Program
61% voted critical - 39% voted not critical - 67 votes cast
Yes
No
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From http://www.past-inc.org/historic-bridges/movable-congress.html
The Congress Street bridge is the oldest of the city's four remaining historic movable bridges. It is an example of one of the most innovative designs, the patented Scherzer rolling lift. This type of bascule does not rotate on a pivot; instead, the lift span rolls back on a huge curved track as it opens. The design, perfected in Chicago in the 1890s, gave greater clearance for the waterway as it rolled back and also did away with the high-stress pivots needed by other types of bascules. The disadvantage was that a substantial foundation had to be constructed to bear the weight of the bridge as it rolled back. With its concrete approach spans, tile-roofed operator's house, and original railing, the Congress Street Bridge is a relatively unaltered example of this important early 20th-century bridge type.
The bridge is listed on =The National Register Of Historic Places.
It has been closed for many years needing repairs. In 2002, the New York Times had this article about the bridge: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E1D91139F93AA25756C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
In the case of the Congress Street Bridge, many residents of the predominantly Hispanic East Side are feeling angered, alienated and frustrated. "Because of the closing of the bridge, the whole East Side of Bridgeport has gone down the drain," said Millie Maldonado, the president of Bridgeport's Spanish Merchants Association. "It has just deteriorated tremendously."
In 2007 it became a campaign issue as Jim Himes, the challenger criticized incumbent Chris Shays for not addressing the long standing issue of the bridge.
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