It was 15 days ago that Gov. M. Jodi Rell attended the long-awaited ground-breaking of the Route 7 bypass in Brookfield, and today passing motorists can see the crude outlines of a new highway emerge from the woods.

The bypass is an $87 million project that will add two miles to the four-lane portion of Route 7. That will carry the limited-access-highway portion of Route 7 two miles north to the narrower portion of Route 7 near the Brookfield-New Milford line. The section will bypass downtown Brookfield, including the Four Corners at the intersection of Route 25.

Route 7 carries 29,000 cars through the village of Brookfield, and the bypass could cut more than half of that traffic, said Dean Cerasoli, transportation supervising engineer with District 4 of the state Department of Transportation. Once the traffic bypasses the center of Brookfield, the village has plans to create a downtown shopping and recreational area with housing and pedestrian walkways.

Rell, a Brookfield resident who also lives at the governor's mansion in Hartford, is a former state legislator. "She's worked for this project since she entered the legislature," said Rell spokesman Chris Cooper. "It's very important for the village.

It's long overdue." Cerasoli, of the DOT, said the bypass will take a bit more than two years to complete. It is hoped it will open by November 2009.

"It's shaping up," Cerasoli said. "They're clearing and grubbing the ramps." this story has 18 comments.

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Posted by: nolopro Wed, May 23 2007 2Manyoldpeoplein203 - maybe the dog's dead, or the undercover security detail walks the dog.

And she pays ZIP for taxes on that house, it's 'historic'. Right. That's why she gets a tax break.

Too bad she can't cut EVERYONE ELSE in the state a tax break!

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Posted by: SPS Wed, May 23 2007 'C'mon it's $43.5 million a mile!

!!' Yeah, but if they had built it years ago when it was supposed to be built, it would have been a fraction of this cost.

Try waiting a few more years and see wait it will cost for a couple of miles of road. These numbers are due, in large part, to the bureaucratic delays that have plagued this project since its inception. I, for one, am glad to see Route 7 finally being completed.

It would be great if they could now do something to ease the traffic from New Fairfield into Danbury on Padanaram Road. That road is also terribly crowded and in much need of relief.