Petition to Protest the Current Plan for the Replacement of the Route 1 Bridge at Greenwich High School and East Putnam:

 

We, the undersigned residents of Greenwich, CT, respectfully submit this Petition to express our grave concerns and strong opposition to the current plans for the repair and reconstruction of the Route 1 Bridge by Greenwich High School. We request that the Town and the State, including DEEP, satisfactorily address the Concerns and Recommendations set forth in this Petition so as to proceed with a more effective project that is less harmful to the surrounding community in terms of flooding, erosion and congestion.

 

Background of Plan at Issue:

The existing bridge is going to be replaced, starting in Spring 2025, with a single span bridge that will be raised approximately 3.5 feet to preclude overtopping in a 100 year storm event.  While the bridge is in need of replacement, the primary stated purpose according to the CT-DOT website is to prevent overtopping.  This will require the reconstruction of 850 feet of US Route 1 and 235 feet of Hillside Road. The aperture beneath the bridge will be widened from approximately 13.5 feet to 39 feet. 

 

Timeline:

CT-DOT’s proposed schedule for the project, projected to commence in Spring 2025, is as follows:

 

• Pre-Stage (2-3 months):Temporary off-peak lane closures

• Stage 1A (8 months): Lanes reduced to one in each direction

• Stage 1B (1 week): Lanes reduced to one in each direction, Hillside Road intersection closed (while GHS is on break)

• Stage 2 (6 months): Lanes reduced to one in each direction, Woodside Drive intersection closed, access only to emergency vehicles

• Stage 3 (2 months): shoulder and possible short-term lane closure
  **At a minimum, Rte 1 will be reduced to one lane only in each direction for 14 months.**

 

Key Concerns:

1. Tripling the Width of the Aperture: CT-DOT is proposing to triple the aperture beneath the bridge from 13.5 feet to 39 feet.  Based on analysis by a hydrologic engineer retained by Milbrook HOA, this could result in triple the flow of water into Milbrook.  Milbrook already routinely floods.  CT-DOT acknowledges in their plan that there will be increased flooding in Milbrook but offers no mitigation. Tripling the volume of water into the neighborhood during storms will cause further upstream sediment to be washed in which will decrease the depths of the neighborhood’s ponds. It will also increase erosion.

2. Lack of Comprehensive Studies: CT-DOT cites the overtopping of Route 1 as their main justification for the project. Route 1 has been overtopped 4 times since March 2, 2007.  CT-DOT has not stated the depth, significance nor duration of those 4 times, but tripling the flow of water into Milbrook for something that rarely happens, is bad policy.

3. No Downstream Watershed Analysis: CT-DOT has not performed an actual gaged watershed analysis on the affected Milbrook waterway, despite the cost to do so being minimal in relation to the ultimate cost of the project. Instead, they have compared our situation to the Sasco Brook in Southport, which is 78% larger.  Gages measure flow rates. To make the Sasco Brook project comparative, CT-DOT performed various regression equations which CT-DOT says show that Milbrook won’t be adversely affected beyond the increased flooding which they acknowledge.  This is not apples to apples modeling. Why not do the analysis on the actual waterway?

4. Wrong Flow Rate used: When CT-DOT ran their analysis, they used their own flow rate as opposed to the FEMA 100-year flow rate.  Conveniently, the CT-DOT flow rate is significantly less.  Why not use the FEMA flow rate to get the most conservative estimate? This is especially true as the FEMA numbers were developed for the East Brothers Brook watershed and would be better than using the gaged numbers from Sasco Creek.  We also note that CT-DOT said the FEMA numbers were too high.  Who made that determination and why?

5. Traffic: The congestion through Greenwich will be horrific. 14 months at one of the biggest chokepoints in town is unfathomable.

 

Our Demands:
1) Communication and Transparency: We have repeatedly tried to have these questions answered. None of them are unreasonable.  We literally get no response beyond an email from a CT-DOT project account stating that they will not answer any questions. The arrogance is breathtaking.

 

2) Proper Analysis: Perform a downstream watershed analysis on the affected site. Its that simple. Use the FEMA flow rate to get the worst case scenario.

 

Notifications:
1) Liability: CT-DOT is ultimately exposing the State and the Town of Greenwich to litigation, decreased tax revenue and damages that could reach $50MM or above, more than the cost of the project.  We also note that the Town of Greenwich when redoing their own bridges has made a concerted effort to understand and mitigate downstream impact. Why the Town is standing back and refusing to weigh in is very troubling and could expose the Town to liability.

2) Monitoring System: Milbrook neighborhood is installing a monitoring system that will provide data on water flows and flooding activity that will give us a clear baseline regarding pre- and post-construction flows that will enable homeowners and the MOA to sue for damages.

3) Traffic Congestion: As noted, the congestion in Greenwich will be extreme. In addition to tripling the flow of water, the Town and CT-DOT have likely assumed that they can also shunt traffic through Milbrook during construction. Milbrook has taken the step of automating its gates and they will be closed during the project. The neighborhood will only be accessible to those people with proper identification and emergency vehicles.

 

Conclusion:

We are not asking that the bridge not be replaced but are simply requesting a face to face meeting with CT-DOT where plain answers are given. Please support us in this simple request by signing our petition.