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Engineer/author advises closer look at Walk Bridge

NORWALK — Transportation engineer Samuel I. Schwartz, known as “Gridlock Sam,” shared his first impressions Wednesday of the state’s plan to replace the Walk Bridge, and urged residents to make their voices heard.

During an evening appearance at the the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk to discuss a book he wrote, Schwartz reminded residents the state Department of Transportation has released its environmental-impact report for the project and is inviting feedback.

“If you take a look at that, it has a comment period,” Schwartz said. “Make it known to the state and federal government that you want a signature bridge here.”

The public comment period began Sept. 6 and will end Oct. 21. A public hearing is set for Oct. 6 at City Hall. For more information, visit walkbridgect.com.

About 50 people, including city officials, attended Schwartz’s lecture and question-and-answer session at the aquarium. While he came to talk about his book, the Walk Bridge was on the minds of many people.

Former Mayor Bill Collins, chairman of the SoNo Comeback Task Force, asked Schwartz for his advice on how Norwalk can have a say in the bridge design.

Alternatives to replacement

The DOT, which plans to start the project in mid-2018, recently unveiled a long-span, vertical-lift bridge with four sets of railroad tracks, as the department’s preferred design. Some local residents consider the design overbuilt.

In the afternoon, Schwartz met with Norwalk Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Timothy T. Sheehan, Acting Director of Planning and Zoning Michael E. Wrinn, Director of Public Works Bruce J. Chimento and others at City Hall to discuss the state project.

Before his lecture, Schwartz spoke to The Hour in the North Water Street Parking Lot, near the Walk Bridge.

“The first thing — and of course I’m being presumptuous — is do we really have to knock it down?” Schwartz said. “Can it be repaired? Can you save that, and is that less expensive and faster?”

He cited the Williamsburg Bridge, between Brooklyn and Manhattan, as an example of a bridge that was saved from destruction upon closer examination of the options.

Schwartz, a former New York traffic commissioner, past chief engineer for the New York City Department of Transportation and current CEO of the transportation-planning firm Schwartz Engineering, was invited to Norwalk by Spinnaker Real Estate Partners and Beinfield Architecture, PC.

Architect Bruce Beinfield introduced Schwartz as a “brilliant engineer” who has solved complex transportation problems in New York City. He invited Schwartz to Norwalk after reading his book “StreetSmart: The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars.”

New transportation ideals

In the book, Schwartz examines the “surreptitious revolution” that began at the beginning of the 21st century. Every year, Americans are driving fewer miles and millennials are driving least of all, he said.

On Wednesday evening, Schwartz delved into the trend, which he attributed to more young people living and working in urban areas where walking, biking and using public transit are preferable to owning a car.

Whereas freedom in 1970 meant having a car, freedom in 2016 is having a smartphone in your pocket to order an Uber cab and access information about public transit systems in major cities across the globe, he said.

“The millennials have unlocked the mysteries of transit,” Schwartz said. “The entire world’s transportation system is now in their pocket.”

Schwartz said the trend toward walking and biking in urban areas has improved people’s health. He cited data showing New York City residents live on average two years longer than Americans elsewhere.

Michael G. Mushak, a former Norwalk zoning commissioner and member of the Norwalk Bike/Walk Task Force, asked Schwartz for advice on dealing with traffic engineers who are “stuck in another era” by insisting on 12-foot vehicle lanes.

“I show them the 10 myths of traffic engineers, and one is wider lanes are safer lanes,” Schwartz said. “They’re not. There are Transportation Research Board studies that show that with a 12-foot lane, or an 11-foot lane or a 10-foot lane and even a 9-foot lane, the safety differences are not significant.”

Answered Mushak, “Hallelujah.”

 

Courtesy: The Hour: By Robert Koch -Updated 11:16 am, Thursday, September 15, 2016

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