YourCT.com header image 2
← Norwalk: Ethics Code Revision A Fluid Process New Haven: The International Festival of Arts & Ideas →

Norwalk: East Ave. Railroad Bridge Looked At


by turfgrrl


June 5th, 2007 · 7 Comments

When I read this article, the first thing that came to my mind was that this is the famous “cement silted in railroad culvert” location. So I scanned the article for mention. Instead:

“The DOT tells us that they plan to … start construction in 2010. They’re going to make that underpass from two lanes to four lanes,” said Harold F. Alvord, director of public works for the city. “We want to improve the intersection at Fort Point Street and widen the road. We need to start looking at that now, so if there are some property acquisition issues, we’ve got time to (resolve) them.”

“We’re at the point where it would make sense to do (the East Avenue improvements) in conjunction with the railroad underpass,” Alvord said.

2010? That’s 3 years away! What about MetroNorth or the DOT addressing the blocked culvert now?

Tonight, the Common Council’s Public Works Committee is scheduled to vote on an agreement with A. DiCesare Associates, P.C., of Westport to provide engineering services related to the East Avenue Bridge Reconstruction Project. The cost of the agreement has yet to be determined.

If the full council authorizes the agreement, A. DiCesare will plan and design the related roadwork on East Avenue, from the railroad underpass to Exit 16. The firm first examine the state’s plans for the bridgework, research land records and determine where utilities are located, Alvord said.

For years, public works officials have been reluctant to sink money into East Avenue before the state revamps Exit 16 over Interstate 95 and rebuilds the railroad bridge. The city doesn’t want to spend the money on East Avenue, only to see the state tear it up to rebuild the bridge and exit.

After years, planning for the bridge replacement is now advancing, according to Judd B. Everhart, director of communications for the transportation department.

“It is important to remember that projects of this magnitude take a great deal of time in terms of planning, design and getting the funding in place,” Everhart said. “So it is significant that the funding has been programmed for this project at this stage.”

The bridge reconstruction entails replacing the bridge superstructure, widening the roadway beneath the bridge, adding two five-foot wide sidewalks on either side of the roadway beneath the bridge, and lowering the roadway to boost clearance to 14 feet 2 inches. The current vertical clearance is 12 feet 7 inches, according to A. DiCesare.

William M. Krummel, public works committee chairman, said southbound travel at the railroad bridge is particularly troublesome because of the current configuration of East Avenue.

“Going south, you’ve got the right-hand turn by Penny’s Diner, and then you’ve got to shift over to the left to get out of that lane, if you’re going straight ahead,” Krummel said.

How about addressing how storm water can’t navigate the bridge area as well?

source: The Hour, Officials hope to expand East Avenue improvements, by Robert Koch, June 5, 2007

Tags: In the News · Norwalk

7 Responses so far ↓ “Norwalk: East Ave. Railroad Bridge Looked At”



  • 1 Mr Greenpeace // Jun 5, 2007 at 10:34 am

    sounds like the drawing board needs to be adjusted as the state has changed plans in the past,,while the city is at, I assume with thousands of gallons of gas in each of the three gas stations right where construction is going to happen , plus the other enviromental factors in the area are a concern ,a study will have to be done, so if they hit gas it won’t be a surprise,,so again who does that the city or the state? sort it out now not later,,sorry Brooks lab I may of taken another study to the bid process,,or does that happen at all in Norwalk..

    ,just maybe they can find somewhere for a police station , has anyone else read the news this morning ,,another crime another injured employee at the Mobile station.. second major crime in as many weeks,in the area of the train station on East Ave.

    It was also noted the spike in crime accross the nation
    www.fbi.gov released it yesterday,,and there was cities offering some solutions I trust we will read Norwalks suggestions tonight while we wait for red tape on work on East ave..

    sorry i took this shot on public safety but if you read todays papers the assaults on victims are becomming alarming might make downtown SoNo not a destination for tourism after all,,three of the crimes this weekend during the day suggests a very bad trend..
    and all happened in South Norwalk. I’m sure with all the news the merchants will become involved soon, I once belonged to a chamber of commerance they were useless they only concerned themselves with paying members not the business’s that actually cater to the residents..

    maybe its time to park some of the damaged police cars around town that are broken,,maybe that will stop some crime , blowup tanks worked in WWII why not try some decoy cars,,they say police presence stops crime and where we don’t have enough to go around I am willing to suggest something, so you lose a parking spot so what..

    another rant by

    Mr. Greenpeace

  • 2 Anonymous // Jun 5, 2007 at 10:36 am

    Yeah, they could park them and put some blow-up dolls in them that they have confiscated from the massage parlors. So much for “Law and Odor” Moccia’s crime prevention campaign promises.

  • 3 Anonymous // Jun 5, 2007 at 10:49 am

    BTW, the police department is getting new police cars, from the much ballyhooed Homeland Security grants, I believe. You may have seen one in the Memorial Day parade. Maybe they’ll be scary enough to reduce the crime rate by themselves.

  • 4 Mr Greenpeace // Jun 5, 2007 at 11:39 am

    I’m sorry to say a fellow police officer was killed years ago in a cruiser marked like the new ones,,all black back at night when DUI’s cannot see a light colors such as white are in my estimation dangerous and the safety of an officer is an issue.

    Another such accident involved two in one accident, one was hit while stopped at a light, another came to block traffic and was also hit drivers could not see the cruisers at night .

    I thank you for pointing out positive facts but seriously have you looked at it from a distance at night from the back?

    I trust homeland will provide white spray paint and reflector strips taking away from its original color.

    I will dig up some fact and post it , I knew when this subject would come up I would need to prove it, I was involved many years ago with Emergency one creating response vehicles and this was a major issue (color)

    One firefighter in particular who help develope special bumpers on NY city fire trucks to push cars out of the way (standard equipment) wrote a article on this,color ,I will try and find it..

    I think if you go back and read the postings on the grants and facts not covered in the news you will find taxpayers concern is paramount.

    You do realize these police officers are also called out to 95 their counterparts from the state are rarely seen with a black cruisers,,my concern is not the insight of managment but the safety of our officers I cannot say enough about them so please don’t take my posting wrong.

    I am simply discouraged at the decisions made with little regard for an officers safety .Imagine how they feel and if they like the color so be it I’m not driving one..they are. ever see a black reflective vest? it was only a comparison.

    Mr Greenpeace

  • 5 L'arlequino // Jun 5, 2007 at 11:48 am

    I applaud the City and Metro-North for planning improvements to the railroad overpass and the road beneath.

    For too long the commuters at the East Norwalk train station have had to take their lives in hand when crossing from one side of the tracks to another. I recall that one person was hit and killed by a car last year at that spot.

    Aside from that consideration, hopefully the planning will take into consideration what will occur once traffic starts flowing more freely in and out of that part of East Norwalk.

    However, a couple of issues have not been addressed in this thread and in the media coverage today. How is widening East Avenue at that point going to affect an already badly congested area and what kind of relief mechanism can be put into place to avoid the problems that occur with cars turning north onto East Ave. from Van Zant St? Anyone who has ever tried to do that in traffic will tell you it’s nigh impossible when there are lots of cars to contend with.

    The traffic going to Calf Pasture Beach, particularly in the spring and summer, increases considerably and this particular spot is a choke point. When improvements start I can guarantee that Strawberry Hill will become the preferred detour for those of us who will essentially be trapped in this part of East Norwalk.

    The underpass at Strawberry Hill under the train tracks is ever lower than the one at East Avenue and will see more trucks getting stuck there when congestion is diverted up that way. Has anyone at DPW taken that into consideration?

  • 6 Alfonso Salazar // Jun 5, 2007 at 12:33 pm

    The bridge that connects Winfield street to Strawberry Hill, is a disaster area. You can walk under that span and see new section of trucks that were torn off almost weekly. The sign that that gives the height as 9′8″ or something like that is so smashed from being hit, as are the main girders supporting the bridge.

    If a bridge even need a flashing light on both sides to warn van and truck drives of the extremely low clearance this is it.

    I would suppose it would be the responsibilty of the RR to do so. It would sure save Norwalk and the MTA police a lot of wasted time, responding to accidents there.

  • 7 Anonymous // Jun 5, 2007 at 1:02 pm

    Do I hear the phrase “eminent domain” rearing its ugly head?