The state Department of Transportation is holding a Public Information Meeting tonight about a proposed project in Monroe.  A bridge, built in 1915 and reconstructed in 1930, is a single span bridge which carries Route 34 over Boys Halfway Brook.  The structure is just west of the Oxford town line. 

The proposed project consists of replacing the existing concrete slab with a new reinforced one in order to address the bridge's deteriorated condition. The road will be widened to accommodate a 12-foot travel lane and a 5-foot shoulder in each direction. 

There will be alternating one-way traffic over six weeks, along with off peak lane closures before and after this six-week period.  Construction is anticipated to begin in the spring 2018, and cost about $700,000.  80 percent will be paid for with Federal funds and 20 percent State funds. 

The public information meeting is at 7pm in Monroe Town Hall. 

State Representative J.P. Sredzinski says the project will also move Route 34 from its current position directly over the dam.  He says the two options being most carefully explored by the state are to either bring the crossing of Route 34 over the river about 1000 feet south of where it is now, down near Webb Mountain and down passed the dam, or to bring the roadway across a significant portion of Lake Zoar further north.