Bolinsky, Neighbors Get I-84 Barriers Update

NEWTOWN- At the request of State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) officials met with neighbors from the Riverside section of Sandy Hook last week at the Newtown Municipal Center to discuss and provide input to the final stages of a more-than two-year bridge replacement project of the I-84 twin-spans that cross over Center Street, dividing their neighborhood.

About a dozen Newtown residents from Underhill Road, Waterview Terrace, Alpine Drive and Riverside Road turned out to learn more about the conclusion of this long-running project, to share their concerns about remediation of the site and to reiterate long-term concerns for safety and noise abatement in the quaint community. DOT representatives Ken Fargnoli, District 4 Construction Director; Charles Murad, Project Manager and Delois Barnes, District Landscape Designer, answered questions from residents and clarified the DOT’s vision of the scope of work for this site, which includes appropriate restoration of local roadways that bore the heavy work trucks for two years, sidewalk installation along Center Street, a final cleaning of state-owned drainage structures and pipes and landscaping, to provide a visual and noise buffer.

The landscaping buffer drew many comments and suggestions from residents, who also added good feedback about drainage, fencing, invasive species grown at the worksite and cleanup of the surrounding area. The DOT representatives noted all suggestions; particularly that the cleanup process and roadway restoration be coordinated with Newtown Public Works to ensure that both state-owned and town-owned structures and pipes are all properly addressed. Also, residents expressed concerns about the new bridge spans being wider than those they replaced. Given the issues experienced with flooding during this project, there was call for a study of drainage capacity in neighborhood, and whether water running off the now-wider bridge structures can be adequately handled by existing state and local storm sewer systems. DOT is supposed to lead this coordination with Newtown Public Works and communicate its findings to Representative Bolinsky.

Regarding “Living Barrier” to be planted on the slopes of the twin bridges, residents again expressed disappointment that the project did not include a “sound wall”, to permanently address their long-standing concerns. Rep. Bolinsky noted their request but explained that, because this project was a straight bridge replacement and not an expansion of I-84 capacity, it did not qualify for federal funding and the state has no sound-wall program at this time. One resident described the “living barriers” as “a poor-man’s sound wall”, a description with which Bolinsky agreed. However, he added that the $90,000 landscaping plan was a hard-fought addition to the project, whose original plans did not include any such work.

Rep. Bolinsky said, “This project created a lot of disruption in the lives of these residents. Now that it’s coming to a conclusion I commend their drive to hold the state accountable throughout the process. We discussed their daily life-disruptions with DOT Commissioner James Redeker, who visited then on-site in late 2013. The landscape feature, while not the perfect solution, was a true expression of how the Commissioner and his staff understood, cared and wanted to offer a solution to their concerns. It was not in the original plans but these residents, through me, earned this compromise with their activism in 2013 and 2014. It’s also important to note that this s not the final chapter because, when I-84 is eventually expanded to three-lanes from Danbury to Waterbury, we may get another bite at the apple.”

DOT expects to begin planting the living barriers on or about April 16th, depending on weather conditions and availability of the specified planting stock, some of which is still held in frozen ground. Clean-up, roadway rehabilitation and drainage work is expected to occur in the same time weather-dependent time frame, with expected completion by the end of May.