Selectmen Question Impact of Planned I-95 Expansion on School Project

What impact will Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed widening of I-95 in Greenwich have on the proposed construction of a new New Lebanon School in Byram?

That’s the question that Greenwich Selectman Drew Marzullo said he wants answered before the Board of Selectmen votes on a plan to build a new 58,000 square foot school on Mead Avenue, a stone’s throw from the highway. And it’s a concern voiced on Wednesday by fellow Selectman John Toner as the board received a presentation on the updated design scheme for the school.

On Friday, Marzullo said that he contacted Malloy’s office to voice his concern and to learn more details of the proposed addition of one lane in each direction of the highway from Greenwich to North Stonington that was announced by Malloy in October. During a Dec. 2 speaking engagement before the Greenwich Retired Men’s Association, Malloy told the nearly 300 attendees that he is committed to improving the state’s transportation infrastructure with a $100 billion 30-year plan that includes the Connecticut Turnpike that he described as “a parking lot” that costs the state billions in worker production every year.

The New Lebanon School Building Committee has recommended the selectmen accept a new design plan that locates the school closer to the highway than the current outdated building. The selectmen have voiced concerns over the location that includes use of a ravine and woodlands and whether students should remain in the school during a two-year construction period or be relocated to either modular classrooms or dispersed among three schools around town.

“This is a question that has to be asked and has to be answered,” Marzullo said Friday. “How will it impact the school, if it will impact the school?”

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“We have an obligation to ask the question because we know what the Governor wants and is promoting,” Marzullo added. According to Marzullo, the state has “ideas for construction. They know their rights of way. We need to know what the plans are and what the eminent domain issues are. We are deciding on a school to last 50 to 60 years.” Marzullo said Malloy’s office referred him to the state Department of Transportation for answers.

During a Greenwich campaign stop in October for Democratic First Selectman candidate Frank Farricker, Malloy was questioned about the impact the highway widening would have on Greenwich. Malloy said he understood concerns and that the state would be poised to work with local officials.

Marzullo conceded there are few options for a location of the school, should the selectmen opt not to support building on the current campus. One option that is being investigated is whether a school could be built on the former Byram School campus that is now owned by the Greenwich Housing Authority that operates a senior and public housing complex on Vinci Drive. There is a review of deed restrictions to determine whether a portion of the land could be used for a school, according to Marzullo.

In the interim, Marzullo, who serves as an ex-officio member of the New Lebanon Building Committee, said, “Independent of the construction, the kids should be taken out of New Lebanon and placed in a better environment today. Get the kids in modular classrooms that would be conducive to academic learning.”

Among the building options under consideration is to relocate students during construction — the selectmen’s preference — to modular classrooms on the nearby Western Middle School campus or to disperse them to North Street and Parkway school and Western Middle School.

The selectmen are expected to vote on whether to grant municipal improvement status to the revised construction plan at its Dec. 17 meeting.