Greenwich Schools Questions Dept of Transportation Denial for School Bus Parking Under I95 due to “Potentially Flammable Nature”

It’s been a year since Greenwich Public Schools started searching for a location to park their fleet of school buses – about 80, including the small yellow buses.

The Greenwich Board of Education Thursday night agenda includes an update on the status of school bus parking and a request to the State of Connecticut Dept of Transportation to reconsider their denial to the town to lease state right-of-way land under I95 in Cos Cob to park school buses.

The CT Dept of Transportation denial was “Based on Federal Highway Administration Flammability Guidance.”

Photo from presentation for BOE, April 16, 2026.

A CT Dept of Transportation letter to Greenwich Schools dated June 17, 2025 said the area below I95 was subject to Federal Highway Administration oversight and cited a Nov 15, 2023 FHWA memorandum stating, in part, that a proposed non-highway use must preserve the safety of the highway facility and its users.

“The FHWA considers the manufacture or storage of flammable, explosive or hazardous material within the highway right of way as presumptively a safety hazard,” the June 2025 letter from the state to the district said. “In enforcing the guidance set forth in the FHWA memorandum, the Department has determined the storage of commercial vehicles, including school buses, are prohibited within the highway right of way due to their potentially flammable nature.”

The original memorandum from the FHWA in November 2023 cites a fire that resulted in the closure of a bridge on the Santa Monica Freeway, causing the detour of approximately 290,000 vehicles per day.

It went on to cite a similar incident in March 2017 in Atlanta, GA when a massive fire ignited under I-85 North caused a 100-foot section of the bridge to collapse.

Arson was determined to have caused the massive fire that charred and closed the vital section of the Los Angeles freeway. The FHWA memo said, “This event in California again raises serious concerns about storing materials, including flammable, explosive, or hazardous materials under bridges and other elevated surfaces.”

The area proposed for bus parking in Cos Cob very close to where a 100-ft section of I95 northbound over the Mianus River collapsed back in June 28, 1983.

That incident is still a vivid memory for many Greenwich residents. Of course that was prior to the internet or even cell phones, and for months local police directed traffic including 18-wheelers, off I95 via temporary ramps and onto the Post Road.

Thursday night, the item will be presented to the BOE by district Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Ben Branyan, whose presentation notes, “FHWA Guidance Does NOT Prohibit Parking Under Highways.”

There are numerous locations where vehicles are parked under I95 both in Greenwich and other towns, from Westport to Bridgeport to New London, and Branyan’s presentation features photos of several locations, though none have a fleet of buses.

In Cos Cob alone, vehicles park under I95 at the Cos Cob train station and under I95 for the Historical Society.

Vehicles are parked for a private use under I95 right across River Rd from where the district seeks to park school buses.

Photo from presentation to BOE April 16, 2026

Photo from presentation to BOE April 16, 2026

Background

According to Branyan’s presentation, back in fall 2024, the district’s previous transportation vendor threatened to cease operations by December 2024 if the district did not renegotiate the existing bus contract.

“We approached other transportation vendors regarding their interest to provide services to GPS – biggest constraint was bus parking. DATTCO was willing to provide service if Greenwich could secure a location for bus parking.” – slide from Branyan’s presentation to BOE

Potential locations were explored and the district “took a calculated risk that suitable parking would be secured.”

Back in September, then BOE member Kathleen Stowe put a finer point on the situation.

“It’s important to remember, we were forced into this situation…We are always on the receiving end of the anger. …We chose these start times because it was the only way we could optimize the utilization of the buses, which leads to less money,” she said.

“We’re in this situation because of the budget cuts,” Stowe added.

Stowe’s reference was to the district’s response to a forced $4.1 million budget reduction under a then Republican controlled BET last May.

The Greenwich Board of Education voted in May 2025 to move the Greenwich High School start time from 8:30am to 7:45am for the 2025-2026 school year, saving roughly $1.9 million in transportation (school buses) costs.

After the gamble that the district could secure a bus parking location and save significantly on transportation costs with a new vendor, they have been unable to find a single location to park all 80 buses, which remain parked in multiple locations across town, including the grass field at Western Middle School, which is now dirt on a good day and mud after rain.

School buses parked at Western Middle School. November 2025

Neighbors to Western Middle School have complained about exhaust and noise from the buses, and teachers and students at that school have been inconvenienced.

Branyan’s presentation for Thursday night to the BOE describes Greenwich Public Schools as an “outlier,” given the denial to park buses under I95 despite all the other locations where vehicles park under the highway in Connecticut, and asserts the FHWA framework is inconsistently applied.

In conclusion, Branyan’s presentation requests CT Dept of Transportation’s “reconsideration or clear objective criterion for approval.”