By: Justin Desjardins
Posted In: News
Photo credit: Erica Johnson
Prior to Thursday, March 25, 2004, this coming Easter Weekend, April 8 -11, 2004, seemed to be routine and without any major travel trouble besides the usual areas of traffic congestion. That night, Connecticut media outlets reported that a fiery tanker crashed on the southbound side of Interstate 95, near exit 26, and the resulting fire melted the elevated highway between exits 24 and 27 in Bridgeport, Conn.
Reports say that Connecticut bought a temporary bridge to repair the highway and that the federal government responded with more than $10 million of aid for Connecticut to make repairs. Since March 25, Connecticut television stations report that workers have worked around the clock and that the highway is open for traffic. WFSB, in Hartford, Conn., says that temporary repairs were made last week so there should they expect no major problems for Salve students traveling home for Easter Break, as a result of the March 25 accident. James Craven, Managing Editor for NBC 30 News in Hartford, says “it appears that the I-95 will be open, but delays are still possible as work will continue.” Brother John Buckley, chair of Salve’s history department, travels to New York frequently and recommends using the Merritt Parkway as an alternate route around the construction area. The Merritt Parkway does not allow large trucks to use the highway. As for the weather, local meteorologists say that the weather should be an improvement over last week. For the Rhode Island area, ABC 6 Meteorologist, Fred Campagna says the early forecast calls for temperatures moderating from April 7 toward Easter with quiet weather expected for the latter half of the week. He notes that showers “should threaten” New York City and Southern New England during the day on “Wednesday into Thursday.” The early forecasts for next week, according to New England Cable News Meteorologist, Tim Kelley, based out of Boston, calls for a chance of wintry weather for Northern New England for midweek and into Easter weekend.
