Northbound Gold Star Memorial Bridge was open to traffic in 1943 and is Connecticut’s second largest bridge, second only to the southbound Gold Star Bridge. The northbound bridge includes 5 travel lanes, is 6,000 feet in length and has a deck area of 500,000 square feet. The highway carries traffic (~60,000 vehicles daily) over the Thames River, railroads, and local roads from New London to Groton. The Gold Star Bridge is unique in that its steel truss system is comprised of thousands of complex structural pieces, each piece vital to the strength and stability of this iconic structure.

At project initiation, the rehabilitation of the Northbound Gold Star Bridge was broken into three phases:

• Phase 1a – Truss span strengthening
• Phase 1b – Approach girder span strengthening
• Phase 2 – Deck Replacement

All phases were completed under Project No. 94-256 in June 2025.

To improve the multi-modal connectivity between the Cities of New London and Groton over the Gold Star Bridges, the steel superstructures of the Southbound Gold Star Bridges are to be strengthened to accommodate a shared use path and increase the bridges' load capacities. This work is being added to the northbound strengthening project (0094-0256).

The Southbound Gold Star Memorial Bridge will undergo construction to widen the existing sidewalk to a shared use pathway, which will follow the completion of the Steel Strengthening of the Southbound Bridge project. This project is currently in design.

Project Documents

• Southbound Gold Star Memorial Bridge - Pedestrian Improvements - Public Information Meeting Report 
• Southbound Gold Star Memorial Bridge - Pedestrian Improvements - Public Information Meeting - Presentation 
• Southbound Gold Star Memorial Bridge - Pedestrian Improvements - Virtual Public Information Meeting