Neighborhood Citizens Against I-95 Noise, a newly formed bi-partisan group, is holding a public forum on Tuesday, Oct 19 at the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center, where they will share the results of a certified Noise Study.
Doors open at 6:30pm and the program starts promptly at 7:00pm. The Eastern Greenwich Civic Center is located at 90 Harding Road in Old Greenwich.
The group is comprised of concerned residents from Byram, Cos Cob, Riverside, and Old Greenwich who have come together to actively engage with Town and State officials on the topic noise issues associated with Connecticut’s highways.
They want to engage Connecticut’s Dept of Transportation to use noise remediation whenever it undertakes significant highway rehabilitation projects.
In particular, the current focus of the citizen group is on the CT DOT Project 0056-0316, the $200 million highway rehabilitation project that will run from Exit 2 in Greenwich to Exit 6 in Stamford. The project is expected to take three to four years to compete.
The project is expect to start in 2022.
During a CT DOT public Zoom hearing in January, the DOT said the project was limited to resurfacing, bridge rehabilitation and safety improvements on I-95 in Greenwich, from Byram to exit 6 in Stamford.
Representatives from CT DOT said the Greenwich project failed to meet the eligibility for noise analysis, and described the work primarily as a “preservation project” to extend the service life of the pavement, and therefore did not qualify for additional sound barriers like the ones in the area of Belle Haven.
The stretch of I-95 accommodates between 125,900 to 145,700 vehicles a day and feature 6 interchanges.
The highway passes over and under a total 16 local roads, over the Metro North RR and over several bodies of water including the Byram River, Cos Cob Harbor and the Mianus River. It is also notable it passes over flood zones and other environmentally sensitive areas.
In addition to removing asphalt and repairing the concrete underneath, there are bridges constructed in 1955 that are in need of repair.
The work includes new highway lighting, with lights moved to the median where possible. Also, roadside and ramp lighting will be replaced.
Drainage concerns include deteriorated metal pipes, pipes full of hardened sediment, clogged outlets and deteriorated catch basins.
Improvements include cleaning all catch basins and pipes, outlet scour protection, new catch basins where required, replacing/relining metal pipes, improving existing swales, stormwater quality upgrades and access roads.
There are plans for “selective tree clearing” and medians, roadside barriers and guide rails will be upgraded.
Speakers for Tuesday October 19 include:
Greg Piccininno President of stop95noise.org
Steve Haas of SHAcoustics, who will release results of the certified noise study of five locations along I-95 in Greenwich and make recommendations
Susan Foster, Co-President of the Riverside Association who will talk about the Health Impacts of Noise
Liz Pedunas, Co-President of Riverside Association who will talk about what her group is doing.
Joe Kantorski, President of the Byram Neighborhood Association will speak about what other states are doing.
State Representative Steve Meskers (D-150) who will talk about what is needed to move Harftord
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