A localconservation group has sued the state and federal governments over their plan to replace the Walk Bridge over Norwalk River.
In the civil action filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven on Wednesday, the Norwalk Harbor Keeper and Fred Krupp maintain the defendants failed to conduct “an adequate environmental review” of the project.
The lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit Administration and the Connecticut Department of Transportation as defendants.
Last August, as part of compliance with the Connecticut and National Environmental Policy acts, the DOT and FTA published a Finding of No Significant Impact and Record of Decision. The reports concluded that the proposed vertical-lift span replacement bridge would have no significant impact on the environment.
Norwalk Harbor Keeper believes otherwise.
“The wrongful, inadequate NEPA analyses performed by the Defendants in selecting a bridge design failed to consider the reasonable alternative of a fixed bridge at the level of the existing bridge … which would promote resiliency, shorten construction time, significantly reduce construction costs, and otherwise reduce environmental impacts,” reads the lawsuit. “As such, the FONSI and ROD which rely on these inadequate analyses are invalid.”
DOT spokesman Judd Everhart said Wednesday evening he was looking into the suit, and could not yet comment.
Mayor Harry Rilling said he would look into the lawsuit, but expressed doubt that a fixed bridge is a reasonable alternative given costs, construction length and the age of the existing Walk Bridge.
“They (the DOT) did, as far as I know, weigh the alternatives of a fixed bridge and found it would not reduce time,” Rilling said. “It might take longer and it probably wouldn’t save as much money as people are saying it would. And they can’t leave that bridge in place and just close it. It’s a 124-year old structure that’s on pilings. Norwalk Harbor Keeper, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “safeguarding the ecological, recreational, aesthetic, and commercial integrity of the Norwalk River,” was among a number of groups to weigh in as state and federal agencies invited input on the nearly $1 billion project, which the DOT plans to start in 2019.In a press statement released Wednesday afternoon, the organization said the state and federal agencies’ “failure to consider (a) cheaper, more resilient fixed bridge” will cost taxpayers “millions in fees” and disrupt the South and East Norwalk neighborhoods.
“The plan put forward by Connecticut DOT and backed by the U.S. DOT and the Federal Transit Administration is costly, disruptive and makes no sense,” said Fred Krupp, a member of the Norwalk Harbor Keeper and plaintiff in the lawsuit. “It unlawfully disregards better options, such as restoring and keeping in place the existing bridge as a fixed bridge, or bringing in a new fixed bridge at the existing height.” Robin Penna, another Norwalk Harbor Keeper member, said the organization doesn’t oppose replacing the Walk Bridge to eliminate the possibility of it getting stuck and delaying Amtrak and Metro-North Railroad trains.
“What we favor, and what is clearly in the public interest, is for the state to fully consider an existing height fixed bridge option, which costs less, is less disruptive, is less vulnerable to severe weather and future failures to close, and is more practical in every way,” said Penna. Penna is co-owner of A.J. Penna & Son Excavating Contractors, which was forced by the DOT last year to leave its property on Goldstein Place to create staging space for the bridge replacement. The DOT helped the business find a new home at the old National Guard Armory on New Canaan Avenue.
Tony D’Andrea, former Norwalk Harbor Commission chairman and Norwalk Harbor Keeper member, said the defendants’ “lack of a thorough review of the project’s environmental, economic, and social impacts as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, including the improper segmentation of the project’s components during the review process, has done a disservice to the many Norwalk residents and businesses affected by this project and to the Norwalk Harbor and waterfront.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Great countries need great infrastructure
CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
