Bridge No. 174A is the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, known as the Q-Bridge. It carries I-95 over the Quinnipiac River in New Haven and is the centerpiece of the New Haven Harbor Crossing Improvement Program. This extradosed bridge replaced the original 1958 girder and floorbeam structure.

As a boy in the early 2000s, I watched the old bridge come down and the new one take shape, fascinated by how such large structures can be added to and taken away with so little disruption to the people who depend on them.

I painted this in January 2021, the first January of the pandemic, while the country was shut down. To visit family during isolation, I crossed this bridge, which was lit red in support of health care workers, our heroes. At first it felt like something we could all support. As the months wore on, driving over it felt like passing through a portal, a reminder that our lives now depended on covering our faces and washing our hands. My idea was to capture beauty, even in trying times.

This is the first painting in my bridge series (2021–present).

Rev. 10/2026