Treeless

I have always been fascinated with historic photos of places I know and love. Here is a very interesting photo of the bridge leading into downtown Chappaqua taken around 1930.

Notice the lack of trees? Well, if you are a New Castle resident or enjoy visiting the shops downtown, you’d better get used to this look. Construction for the new “improved” bridge is scheduled to start this fall and the first item on the list is to remove every tree adjacent to the crossing.

New Castle NOW has more information, including news on a protest being organized during this weekend’s New Castle Family Fun Day.

Route 120 Bridge: Please Think it Through Before Building

From a Letter to the Editor at NewCastleNOW.org written by Chuck Napoli, R.A.:

We must petition our New Castle elected officials to stop the department of transportation’s three-lane bridge replacement and associated highway extension for the reasons that the construction is neither in context nor compatible with the character of the Chappaqua Hamlet and is completely insensitive to the architectural history of the bridge being replaced.

How did we get from simple repair to bridge replacement?

The original bridge project of 2000 has changed dramatically from a simple repair and a type II state environmental quality review action of no substantial changes to something drastically different. The scope of the project we ask to be stopped has morphed into a massive construction, greatly exceeding the definition of minor highway rehabilitation. The bridge replacement component widens the Rt. 120 traveled road width to three travel lanes, two very wide shoulders, four foot high stone guard rails at the sidewalks and expansive concrete surfaces striped with required yellow or white painted caution markings and medians that split the surplus pavement and traffic into four travel lanes as they merge into the triangle intersection at South Greeley Avenue. Very different.

Read Chuck Napoli’s complete Letter to the Editor at NewCastleNOW.org. He clearly explains who, what, why, when and how to stop a major mistake about to happen in the Chappaqua Hamlet.

In one thought… think, “Big 4-lane highway bridge meets small town hamlet.” Think it can’t happen? In fact, it already has. Read more.

A Familiar and Well-Loved Landmark

Chuck Napoli sent me a copy of the letter from Grey Williams of the New Castle Landmark Advisory Committee addressed to Supervisor Janet Wells.

If you are wondering what all the fuss is about, Mr. Williams has done an excellent job of describing why it is so important to preserve the character of the historic Chappaqua Bridge.

Here’s a clip from the letter:

Ever since 1930, The Quaker Street bridge has been a major focal point of Chappaqua – a centerpiece of its downtown. It was considered a model of innovation and progress when it was first opened, and over the decades it has become a familiar and well-loved landmark. We recognize that replacing the part of it over the railroad and Allen Place require meeting basic current safety standards. Nevertheless, we believe that efforts should be made to preserve what we can of this important part of our heritage. We hope that the Town Board agrees, and will support these recommendations in negotiating with the State Department of Transportation.

For more information on the bridge and the town’s plan for it, click here.

Viewing Chappaqua Through the Rails

When we drive past the duck pond and into town, my kids start to wiggle in their seats. They push their faces against the glass and eagerly await the point on the bridge where they may look out the windows and view, what looks like, all of Chappaqua through the open ironwork of the bridge’s guardrails.

If the bridge is rebuilt using the current DOT design, future generations of Chappaqua children (as well as adults) will miss out on the opportunity to experience Chappaqua through the open rails.

It is my hope that the Town Board and NYSDOT might reconsider the plans for the bridge, and that the historic character of the hamlet’s gateway might be preserved.

Chappaqua Bridge Petition

Chuck Napoli requested that I post a link to a petition sponsored by The Chappaqua Hamlet Partnership; a group of concerned New Castle residents, business district property owners and members of the Chappaqua merchant community. The petition is intended to allow the public to officially “make comment” on the current plans and future of the Chappaqua Bridge.

From Chuck:

Neighbors,

We do have a voice; we will be given a chance to use it.

There is still time to complete the public comment requirement for the Bridge Project. Final DOT plans have not been completed nor have they been shown to the public.

By joining and passing on the online petition found at the link below, all our requests, comments and concerns will be delivered to the town officials on December 14, 2007.

Click the petition link to add your voice.

Please, add your comments regarding our Bridge, the civic property we all share, and choose how you want it to look and function.

From the petition:

We must ask the Town Official’s by the third week in December to STOP bidding The Department of Transportation’s three (3) lane highway and highway bridge that is neither in context nor compatible with the character of the Chappaqua Hamlet and misses badly to be sensitive to the architectural history of the bridge being replaced due to, but not limited to, a massive 264′ retaining wall, holding back tons of land fill and concrete pavement over the tree lined grassy hillside facing the station, for a right hand turning lane ending at Greeley Avenue. the highway and bridge structure is as long as 2 football fields and is enclosed with 4 feet high solid stone barrier walls that obliterate any view of our town from your car. This 2 part, Big Highway/Big Bridge, solution engineered to span over the Metro-North RR and Allen Place, aimed at the heart of the Hamlet, becomes a highway with extra wide shoulders resulting in wider concrete surfaces then striped with required yellow or white painted caution markings to split the surplus pavement into four travel lanes past the triangle.

Perhaps most important to our request to stop the bidding is the fact that this Big Highway/Big Bridge project fails to document any effective traffic flow solution at the triangle intersection or through the business district but instead further congests the heart of town with a fresh supply of vehicles into the already non-functional traffic problems of the hamlet. Concurrently yet totally independent, efforts dubbed “community place making”, concentrating on our shop-keepers needed Foot Traffic and the quality of pedestrian shopping and gathering places is working to provide a safe, intimate pedestrian experience at the very same locale, the entry to the heart of the shopping district and the gateway into our town, the triangle. It seems the two efforts are out of sync, each as far apart as can be; safe small town feel in one camp, the other, Big Highway and Big Bridge vehicle centered; two independent objectives when merged, become dysfunctional.

Action needed; our local elected officials need to intercede with NYSDOT to have alternate solutions considered with public participation.

Some unanswered questions.

1. How will traffic congestion be mitigated and what are the delay projections?

2. What is the updated cost of the Proposed Bridge Project including the extra Highway work needed for the Retaining Wall and at the Tri-angle Intersection?

3. What is the design and cost for Alternative 2: Bridge Rehabilitation that maintains two lanes of traffic at all times?

Ready to add your comments to the petition? Click here.

A Bridge of Cards?

I met with Chuck Napoli yesterday. He’s a resident of the Town of New Castle, a registered architect and a member of the New Castle Landmarks Advisory Committee. Since the year 2000 (and for many years prior to that), Chuck has been an outspoken advocate for the citizens of New Castle, attending most every meeting of the Town Board to express his opinion (personal, as well as professional) on the Chappaqua Hamlet Plan and the future of the Route 120 Bridge.

Tomorrow evening (Thursday, 10/18), Chuck will again be at Town Hall presenting his take on the Route 120 Bridge. He also has a VERY interesting alternative to the proposed bridge design. For more information, send him an e-mail.

I suggested to Chuck that he send me more information to post at Living Well. He sent me this memorandum summarizing the timeline of the bridge design, and explaining why the currently proposed design (which apparently has already been approved by the Town Board and is currently being prepared for bid) is a mistake that New Castle residents will be forced to live with for generations to come.

Here are a few juicy excerpts from Chuck’s memo for your viewing pleasure (or pain):

From a memorandum to: Town Board Oct. 30, 2000 re: (Route 120 Bridge) from Supervisor Sinek.

DOT planners as of October 2000, indicated that their studies have confirmed that no more than a two lane bridge is warranted; that they have developed some alternatives for the triangle, perhaps a roundabout and they are collecting data on the extent of right turners into the station parking lot from the bridge to see if a ramp from the bridge into the parking lot might make sense.

…the bridge widening project was the necessary by-product of the discarded Vollmer Traffic Plan and now it too must be discarded. The bridge must be thoughtfully redesigned “to meet the current project objectives” of our Public Spaces, 2007.

…the DOT believes that we the people have been exploring, deliberating, debating meeting for lunch on Tuesdays to discuss options and possibilities, sharing stories about the kids, making some “work session” appearances to share content and concepts with the Town Board, telling all our friends of our progress, getting invited to and sharing data with the PPS initiative underway and after 6 months, in consensus, present the design we all love…..Didn’t happen DOT.

…New Castle [Town Board] was informed by the Town Historian, Gray Williams that the bridge carrying Route 120 over the Metro-North Railroad is considered to be “historically significant as a distinctive example of a rigid steel frame span” as documented in The Historic American Engineering Record Level II report…

Drawings of the proposed design are available at the town website (you will need to scroll down to the 12th item on the page). Be warned though. They are huge files and will take a while to download.

New Castle NOW

A great news and opinion website was launched last week.

New Castle NOW (News & Opinion Weekly) is organized similar to the traditional local newspaper with articles, Op-Eds, letters to the editor, government announcements, classifieds and everything else you would expect. They even have the New Castle police blotter published (that has always been my favorite section of the local paper).

Be sure to read Jane T. Holmes’ letter to the editor, Rethink Bridge Design (you’ll need to scroll down to the second letter). Jane’s letter references the Rt. 120 bridge that is scheduled to be reconstructed this winter. The design being proposed has become a very hot topic throughout the Town of New Castle.

The Chappaqua Bridge

If you’re a resident of New Castle (NY) and have been watching the Town Board meetings on NCCTV, you’ve no doubt heard about the controversial bridge design being proposed to replace the current Route 120 bridge over the Metro North Railroad.

If you haven’t been watching, you need to check it out. The proposed design will significantly alter the look and function of downtown Chappaqua… and not necessarily in a good way.

Chuck Napoli, a Chappaqua resident and NYS licensed architect, has been spearheading a campaign to inform New Castle residents of the issues surrounding the reconstruction of the bridge. This morning he sent me a notice that presentations will be held at New Castle Town Hall on September 11 and September 25, from 6 to 7PM. They will be discussing the history of the current bridge, comparing and contrasting the proposed design to the current structure and presenting alternative solutions.

The presentation is intended to educate residents of the current issues and prepare them to make informed comments at the Town Board meetings scheduled on the same dates, at 7:45PM.

For more information, you may e-mail crownhouse297@aol.com.