Colorful maps unveiled this week by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority depicting the potential for several hundred million dollars' worth of development at the former Norwich Hospital also showed a narrow line cutting across the Thames River just south of both the project property and Mohegan Sun.

That is the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge, a two-lane span across the river described by a state transportation official as adequate for current traffic volumes and in good physical condition.

An estimated $100 million to improve the Route 2/2A/32 corridor between Preston and Montville, including a potential second bridge span, is listed in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s “Let’s Go CT” massive $100 billion, 30-year state transportation infrastructure plan released in February 2015.

Thomas J. Maziarz, chief of the state Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Policy and Planning, said at the time that the Route 2/2A/32 project was envisioned as a “long-term need.”

But Preston residents and town officials were quick to point out this week that the narrow span likely would not be able to support traffic for the destination resort development envisioned by tribal planners for the former Norwich Hospital property: a 40-acre theme park, outdoor adventure park, synthetic skiing, hotels, major sports complex and retail offerings.

On Wednesday, the morning after the unveiling, First Selectman Robert Congdon asked officials at the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments to set up a meeting with DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker to discuss moving up the proposed Route 2/2A/32 improvements, designating them as a high priority for this region.

“I think it makes perfect sense to move it up in the priority list to support economic growth of the region,” Congdon said.

Council of governments Executive Director James Butler said the project already is listed among six “highest long-term priorities” for the region, including a new bridge span over the Thames River, in the council’s “Long-Range Regional Transportation Plan FY 2015-2040.”

In both cases, Maziarz and Butler said, the plans can be altered to reflect changes in projected development or other regional priorities. For example, Butler said, the council listed completion of Route 11 as its top priority, a project since canceled by state officials.

“It wouldn't be unusual to move a project up,” Maziarz said. “Occasionally, we’re being asked to put something as a higher priority because conditions change.”

According to traffic counts listed in the council of governments’ long-range plan, average daily traffic volumes from Mohegan Sun Boulevard to Preston on Route 2A increased from 15,500 in 1992 to 23,900 in 2014, a 54 percent hike.

Maziarz said without the proposed Norwich Hospital development, the current traffic totals would not warrant the proposed widening project that calls for two lanes in each direction with a second bridge span.

A tentative schedule of development of the former hospital property calls for finalizing the Property Disposition and Development Agreement by late February, followed by one year of final environmental cleanup before the tribe takes ownership of the property.

Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman Kevin Brown said Tuesday the five-year timeframe called for the proposed agreement — not yet public — would have development substantially completed by 2023.

“It takes several years just to design a bridge,” Butler said.

Other improvements to the corridor on both sides of the river also are anticipated and might be able to be done quicker than a bridge project, Maziarz said.

In addition, as the Preston developers seek permit approvals for various aspects of the project, they could be required to make improvements to state Route 12, which runs through the former Norwich Hospital property. Typically, the costs of those local improvements, such as new traffic lights or turning lanes, are borne by the developers, Maziarz said.

State officials likely would meet with the tribe and project developers to work out a partnership plan for traffic improvements as the plans become solidified, Maziarz said.

State officials first proposed the second bridge span in 2008. An illustration as part of an environmental impact statement showed the potential new span erected just north of the existing bridge.

Maziarz said the project was never engineered.

“The concept would have to be completely re-evaluated,” he said.

c.bessette@theday.com