City set to pay $7.5M for utility work on Walk Bridge
NORWALK — The city is set to fund $7.5 million, paid in installments for the next three years, for utilities work associated with the Walk Bridge reconstruction project.
The Common Council Public Works Committee approved the expense during a virtual meeting last week. The full council is set to vote on the issue at its Tuesday meeting
While construction of the bridge and much of the project’s cost will be conducted by the state Department of Transportation, the city will pay for various services including roadway sweeping and some engineering and underground utility construction, according to the agreement documents.
Norwalk’s portion of the cost will be paid in three installations, one payment
for the next three years.
The first installment is $3,750,000, which is to be paid to the DOT once the written acknowledgment of the project authorization is received. The second and third installations — both $1,875,000 — will be due on July 1, 2022, and 2023, respectively, according to the documents.
Of the lump sum, $7 million is for the city’s portion of the construction outlined in the agreement, while the remaining $500,000 will cover the DOT project inspection services.
“This is the first time the DOT, understanding the cap the city has on all capital projects, is helping us in dividing costs in three separate payments,” Norwalk Principal Engineer Vanessa Valadares said at Tuesday’s meeting. “It is really the first time the state is doing this. It shows a lot about the relationship we have been having between the Walk Bridge Program and DOT.”
Typically, the municipality would have to agree to the payments in full for projects of this kind, Valadares said.
Public Works Committee Chair George Tsiranides agreed with Valadares regarding the unusual agreement.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a contract broken up over three payments,” Tsiranides said. “That’s wonderful they’re working with us in that particular way.”
With the agreement’s approval, a groundbreaking is expected by the end of the summer, with paperwork and contractors finalized by late May, Valadares said. The entirety of the project, including the underground work for Norwalk the DOT has agreed to take on, should be completed in about two and a half years.
“This will be a big, big change to East Avenue,” Valadares said. “This will follow the bridge replacement and widening of the road.”
Replacement of the 124year-old bridge has been in the works since 2017. Prior to the pandemic, the 564foot-long bridge, which is part of Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line, transported about 175 trains and 125,000 riders daily, according to the program website.
The cost difference between partnering with the DOT for the bridge construction and having the city take on the project alone is minimal. But the joining allows the state to handle many of the coordinating costs and leaves Norwalk to mainly pay for the utility work, Valadares said.
As part of the agreement, the DOT will be undergrounding utilities on East Avenue from Winfield Street to Fort Point Street, including overhead lines. The utility undergrounding is needed as part of the replacement of the New Haven Line Railroad Bridge over East Avenue, according to the documents.
With unanimous approval from the Public Works Committee, the Common Council is set to vote on the Walk Bridge agreement at Tuesday’s meeting.