To his credit, Ct. Gov. Malloy called for meetings with the MTA, ConnDOT, engineers and experts to see what can be done about fixing it and building a replacement. However in recent years, Gov. Malloy has done as predecessors Rowland and Rell before him didn't do the right thing instead of replacing or repairing old bridges. The money went into other places to balance the budget. Reality bites you in the rear at the most inopportune times and another oops moment pops up.
Connecticut owns the bridge and the Governor is looking for $465 million in Fed bread with Super Storm Sandy money to pay 75% of the cost to replace it. In this day and age, it is a tough political sell in our Nation's Capital.
The logistical issue of replacing the bridge is problematic. Land acquisition is the big problem as there's no room as a parallel bridge needs to be built with a modified right of way that would be exactly over existing structures and ongoing businesses. They say it will take 6 years to do it but I'm sure it will be longer than that.
Pleasure boat use and industrial heating-oil-carrying barges all stake a legal need to open the bridge for their use, much to the chagrin of 120,000 daily rail riders. Enough emergency bus service isn't available to ferry inconvenienced passengers especially during rush hours.
Meanwhile, Northeast Corridor riders can only hope they won't get stuck.
Clearly something needs to be done. Time is of the essence but time is also a commodity that is a tough factor when studies, planning and land acquisition are all roadblocks to the swift completion of a really dire need.
Good luck.
Photo caption: A pair of Metro-North M-8 trainsets pass each other on 'The Walk' - Norwalk's River Bridge.
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