Waverly Ave. Bridge Not Safe For Traffic As Is: Town of Mamaroneck

TOWN OF MAMARONECK, NY — The political manuevering between municipalities over the replacement of a notorious bridge has taken a new turn, as the Town of Mamaroceck announced today that the span over the Sheldrake River is not safe for traffic under current conditions.

A scheduled nearly year-long closing and replacement of the bridge was abruptly halted over a dispute between the town and neighboring village over the cost of traffic control at the work site. Now, it seems that traffic patterns are likely to change drastically even if work doesn't begin.

The Town of Mamaroneck announced Monday afternoon, that out of a concern for public safety, it conducted an updated structural engineering inspection of the Waverly Ave. Bridge on Friday. Officials say that the inspection found that one of the guardrails on the bridge is "severely deficient and won't withstand the impact of a car."

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) had previously identified this issue as a "safety flag" needing immediate action to maintain safe travel across the structure.

The Town of Mamaroneck explained that closing the bridge on Oct. 20 for reconstruction allowed the "safety flag" to be removed, but the Village of Mamaroneck reopening the bridge to traffic "obligated the Town to take appropriate action."

The town says that in the interest of public safety, while still determining how to get the bridge reconstruction project back on track, it will be implementing the structural engineer's recommendations, which may include further restriction of traffic across the bridge.

Town of Mamaroneck officials say that there will be additional costs incurred for the immediate inspection and implementation of any recommendations, as they were not originally planned for in the reconstruction plans.

"Had the Bridge remained closed, the Town could have avoided the unnecessary expense, which will now be borne by the taxpayers of both Villages and the unincorporated part of the Town," the town added.

SEE ALSO:

• Mamaroneck Waverly Avenue Bridge Replacement Remains Stalled: Latest
• Waverly Avenue Bridge Replacement Project Abruptly Halted
• Waverly Avenue Bridge Will Close Friday As Crews Replace The Span

Because the NYSDOT identified the Waverly Ave. Bridge as being structurally deficient, the bridge's owner, the Town of Mamaroneck, has been undertaking a $4.54 million project to replace it. The bridge has also been identified as a chokepoint when the Sheldrake River rises, sending floodwaters into nearby homes, which the project also sought to address.

Design of the new bridge incorporated recommendations from the 2017 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood Risk Management Final Report. The report called for replacing the bridge with a longer span and deeper foundations, which will eventually allow the Army Corps of Engineers' plans to widen the channel.

The Town of Mamaroneck received grants for the project in the amounts of $1.75 million through the NYS Department of Transportation BridgeNY program and $2.084 million through Westchester County’s Flood Mitigation Grant program.

Bi-weekly construction meetings had already been scheduled to be held during the length of the project with the project team (including representatives from both the Town of Mamaroneck and the Village of Mamaroneck).

The bridge was closed for construction work on Oct. 20.

On October 23, in his presentation to the Village of Mamaroneck Board of Trustees, among other items regarding the Town of Mamaroneck, Village Manager Jerry Barberio addressed the town not funding traffic control at the Waverly Ave. Bridge.

"On Friday after talking to the Waverly Ave. bridge contractor, I learned the Town did not fund police detail for traffic control for residents driving to MAS or the train station or driving through the Village," Barberio wrote in his report. "I know, and Mr. Sarnoff and Chief DiRuzza will confirm, that traffic control aspect of the bridge project and include it in the approved traffic plan. We are actively working on a plan to remedy that oversight based on emails between the Mayor and the Town Supervisor. The Mayor is very strong in our position and I appreciate that about him. In the meantime, until the Town of Mamaroneck funds the police traffic control, we will not have officers at the intersections. If this goes on too long, I will have no choice but to rescind the contractor’s road opening permit."

On October 27, the Town of Mamaroneck announced that the Waverly Ave. Bridge project had been abruptly halted. The town said that its contractor attempted to start work by installing necessary barricades at the bridge. According to the town, the Village of Mamaroneck removed the barricades without permission, demanding that the town pay around $728,000 to the village to cover police overtime for traffic control, an amount which the town describes as "out of line and unjustified," and "an unreasonable burden which will be borne by all taxpayers of the Town of Mamaroneck, including the residents of both villages."

The town also claims that the Mamaroneck village manager refused to attend meetings between the town and village, meaning that there was no one from the village with authority to make the final decision at meetings.

Barberio disputed the town's assertion, telling Patch on Oct. 27 that each of the five city officials and legal representatives who attended the meetings "are and have Village authority." He said the village's representatives were united and adamant in the position that the bridge cannot be closed to traffic until there are traffic control measures in place that are satisfactory.

Village of Mamaroneck Mayor Tom Murphy said that the village is eager to see the bridge project get underway, but not at the expense of safety.

"The Village could not in good conscience leave the bridge open and put the safety of our children walking to school, other pedestrians and motorists in jeopardy," Murphy said in an Oct. 27 statement. "Our Police Chief is adamant that the only way to ensure safety is with a police detail for an extended period of time until traffic patterns change ... Yesterday the Assistant Village Manager, the Village Attorney, the Police Chief, the head of DPW and the Village Engineer all met with the Town staff. Mamaroneck Town continued to refuse to make any reasonable offer to fund the needed police overtime at that meeting. The meeting was ended with the Town saying they would get back to us with a plan. So far today no plan has been presented."

According to Murphy, the ball is very much in the Town of Mamaroneck's court.

"We stand ready to bring this to a reasonable conclusion when the Town realizes that the police detail is needed for the protection of all of our residents," Murphy wrote. "I am confident that the bridge work will soon resume but the Town MUST accept its safety responsibilities!!"

During the Town of Mamaroneck board meeting on November 1, additional details, new assertions and a timeline about the Waverly Ave. Bridge replacement project standstill were revealed.

In its Nov. 1 update, the town said that the village had four years before the project began on October 20, to address police staffing for traffic regulation, but did not say anything.

According to the Town of Mamaroneck's timeline:

• Nov. 2019: monthly design meetings were held with the consultant, HVEA Engineers. Village representatives were present at most of these meetings.
• July 7, 2023: bi-weekly, pre-construction meetings with the contractor began. Village staff members were always present and the village actively participated in these meetings, commenting on issues such as signage, pavement markings, etc. The town claims that the issue of the town paying for police was never raised at meetings.
• August 9, 2023: The village issued a road opening permit to the town for bridge construction, which had several conditions, but did not mention the town paying for police presence for traffic regulation.
• September 12, 2023: At a Village Board Work Session, Mayor Murphy asked Village Manager Barberio to enter into a written arrangement with the town for police overtime for traffic control, but the town claims that Barberio never contacted the town to do so. The town says that "the Village was silent for four (4) years."

The town also asks in its update, "Why did they wait until AFTER work commenced to address the issue of police presence for the regulation of traffic, shutting down a project that took years to plan and that is important for public safety and flood mitigation?"

The Town of Mamaroneck also says that bridge reconstruction is often done without the presence of police, citing the Hillside Ave. bridge in the village as an example. The town added that their consultant told them that police details are not included in the NYSDOT standard specification for locally administered federal aid projects, such as the Waverly Ave. Bridge. According to the town, the NYSDOT does not provide the option to request long-term police details on their own sponsored projects where a road is to be closed for any length of time.

The town claims that it still made a reasonable proposal for a police presence, at the town's expense, for a limited amount of time while the public becomes accustomed to the closure of the bridge and starts using alternative routes, "but the Village rejected it out of hand, without proposing an alternative."

"The Town and the Village have a long history of working together for the benefit of our residents, even when we didn’t agree on an issue," the town added. "We call upon the Village to resume this longstanding tradition of civility."