Open house on the new Pearl Harbor Memorial / "Q" bridge

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- If you've been fascinated by the construction of the new Pearl Harbor Memorial bridge over the Quinnipiac River, you can see it up close this weekend at an open house.

• Read the Open House invitation (.pdf)

It's hard to tell as you drive by, but they are just a few feet away from connecting the middle of the new bridge. The last gap high above the Quinnipiac River should be closed by next month. Paving and finishing will take a little longer, but by the end of this summer, northbound I-95 traffic will be driving on this new span. But that's really just the beginning of what's happening in the near future.

"Meanwhile, we're going to have to build some temporary ramps and some temporary bridges to begin to make all the connections from the new Q Bridge to the interchange with 34, 91, so that we can move all of the traffic, a year later, on to this new half," explained Brian Mercure from the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

A year later is when both directions of I-95 will travel the new span, then they tear down and replace the current bridge.

You can see it all for yourself at an open house the DOT is hosting Saturday from 10-2 at it's New Haven office on Chapel Street. You can even take a bus tour of the project.

"The bus will be leaving from 424 Chapel," Mercure said. "They can get close to the construction site. Not too close, but closer than the view most people usually have."

Workers are ahead of schedule in getting the new span in place and it could open to traffic sooner than planned.

All the many phases of construction will be completed in the year 2016.

More information: I95NewHaven.com