A vital stretch of roadway in Stratford, that’s been closed since early June, is projected to reopen in mid-October, according to the Connecticut Department of Transportation. A sinkhole on Route 113 shut down the stretch from Great Meadow Road to Oak Bluff Avenue, leaving just one way in and out of the Lordship section of town.

Construction crews began working to repair the 3-foot wide and 7-foot deep sinkhole about three weeks ago. On Wednesday, CTDOT officials were on scene to tour the project and give an update on the progress.

“They are working really two shifts a day—20 hours a day essentially—to get this done,” said CTDOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto.

Eucalitto explained the cause of the collapse was old drainpipes that had deteriorated over time, but the fix wasn't so simple.

“This project is pretty complicated,” Eucalitto said. “This is a very regulated area. It's in wetlands, tidal wetlands, so tides coming in and out every single day makes it much more regulated than a normal road project that we would do.”

The route runs through a wildlife refuge with protected species which meant additional environmental approvals before work could begin. The CTDOT also needed federal clearance due to the site's proximity to Sikorsky Airport, which also caused some delay starting.

“We did work with the FAA, and the airport and one of the runways is closed,” said CTDOT Chief Engineer Jim Fallon, pointing to a large “X” stationed on the shut-down runway. “That's right in line with our physical construction and the crane and there's a height issue with things like that.”

Fallon said that hasn’t caused issues to the airport's day to day operations.

But that's not the case for people who live in Lordship. For the past 2 ½ months, they've dealt with detours, traffic and extended drive times. Stratford Councilman Bryan O’Connor said he’s heard from some constituents who are concerned about the closure during hurricane season.

“Having one egress is kind of a big deal, but we’re working with public safety and everybody. There's plenty of plans and actions,” O’Connor explained.

“People's patience has been admirable as we work on this,” added state Rep. Joe Gresko, who represents Stratford. “They're troopers. And we appreciate them understanding that once these projects are done, we'll be good for a while.”

Gresko said the sinkhole actually occurred at a pretty optimum time. The CTDOT just happened to be doing a repaving project nearby, which allowed them to get on scene and react pretty quickly. If that hadn't happened, people in the area could've been waiting an even longer time to have the road open again.

“Sometimes it's fortuitous when these things happen,” Gresko stated.

“Something of this magnitude would typically probably be a construction season. We're anticipating getting this done in probably 8-10 weeks rather than 9 months, so that's certainly in an expedited fashion,” Fallon said.