After Thursday’s second read, the Board of Selectmen took a “second read” on the request for a detour during the North Street bridge project. The bridge is on North Street over West Brothers Brook, where most drivers are unaware they are going over a bridge.
The detour was proposed two weeks earlier by the Dept of Public Works. The The detour plan was designed by WMC Consulting Engineers and has been approved by the Dept of Transportation.
This summer the project will involve a 12-week road closure while the bridge is replaced and the detour accompanies that project.
Gabriella Circosta-Cohee, chief engineer at Greenwich DPW, said her department takes communications seriously and had hired a “communications specialist,” who would reach out to media outlets and other channels to provide project updates.
First Selectman Fred Camillo brought up the issue of Waze or other apps that direct drivers through town’s roadways and asked about DPW putting out updates on the detour.
“We want to make it as painless as possible for the people who live there,” Camillo said. “When you have a project like this, some people may not be on social media, or they may be busy with their lives and may have missed something. If we know ahead of time something is coming up and the detour will change a little bit, or to please make appropriate plans because of A, B or C. That’s something that can be used by all departments.”
Ms Circosta-Cohee replied, “Just like we do with all of our bridge projects, like we did with Wesskum (Wesskum Wood Road) and Sound Beach (Ave), there is a lot of tweaking that needs to be done throughout the duration of the project.”
“We work with the traffic section of the police departments and monitor surrounding roadways to see what adjustments need to be made regarding signage or enforcement or possibly moving around speed bumps. Those adjustments will be made throughout the duration.”
Camillo asked about a special link for the North Street bridge project and the ability for drivers and residents to alert the town about an issue.
Circosta-Cohee said there was a dedicated project web page for the North Street bridge project and DPW could add a form field at the bottom for comments to go directly to the project manger.
Maya Tichio who lives close to the bridge on North Street, asked the Selectmen about timing, given public schools close at the end of June.
“Is the reality of the closure actually the first week of July, in which case they’ll have 9 weeks to close the bridge?” she asked.
Camillo said public schools last day is June 19.
Second, Ms Tichio asked given that bidding had yet to take place, once it was decided where police would be stationed, whether that be communicated to the public.
“I’m envisioning, for example, someone driving down (North Street) and not knowing if they don’t get the push notification that there’s intermittent closures and they’re attempting to go down a one-way road for two lanes and make the decision that it is too long a line and turn around to get out of it?” she asked.
Ms Circosta-Cohee said intermittent, alternating one-way scenarios are typically in effect when there is work on utilities such as transfers of a gas line or water line.
“When those things are done it’ll be on a case-by-case scenario,”she said. “It’s going to be up to the discretion of the police department, just like we handle our other projects with a police presence during construction and roadway intermittent traffic disruptions. It’s up to the police and the traffic section and the contractor what is the best course for distributing the officers for safety.”
Mr. Camillo said when available, the town uses electronic signage to alert drivers to a road closure or detour.
Ms Tichio asked about about possible use of speed bumps and police monitoring the detour.
“This is something they’ve been doing for decades. They’ll certainly have a plan in place. Speed bumps are always a last resort,” Camillo said.
Bill Galvin, who lives at the foot of North Street, said, “The issue specifically with North Street bridge is so many people in town will be impacted by this bridge work, not just people who live within 200 or 300 yards from the bridge. It’s going to affect a lot of people. There are so many schools and churches, and it’s a main thoroughfare through town.”
Mr. Galvin said it would be helpful for DPW to communicate intermittent one-way traffic scenarios in real time.
“This is like a weather report. You don’t want to wake up in the morning and find out it snowed all night. You want that information if there’s going to be a snow storm two days earlier. Give me some advance warning,” Galvin said. “That needs to be communicated, so what are buses going to do?…They may want to reroute some of the buses. We’re just asking you to push information out. People don’t go to websites.”
Camillo said there were plans to communicate information via the school district and the district’s transportation coordinator.
The vote was unanimously in favor of the detour among the three-person board of Selectmen.
The $3 million North Street bridge project is mostly being funded by a state grant. The Town pays for design and the state grant will pay for 100% of construction.
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See also:
Jan 20, 2025
Selectmen Consider DPW North Street Bridge Project Detour Route and Road Closure
Jan 10, 2025
“Catastrophe about to Happen” – Neighbors Demand a New Plan for North St Bridge Project