(The following article by Joe Wojtas was posted on the Day website on September 6.)
STONINGTON, Conn. — More than 1,000 residents and boaters are asking Amtrak to increase the clearance under the two railroad bridges it plans to replace over Stonington Harbor so more boats can get access to the northern part of the harbor and a nearby cove.
The two bridges were built 106 years ago. Amtrak plans to replace them as part of a larger project to replace the moveable bridges over the Niantic, Thames and Connecticut rivers.
When former Deputy Harbormaster Bryan Chesebrough read about the project, he said he realized “that this was our only chance to influence this for the next 100 years.”
So he called Andy Williams of Cutler Street and few other residents and organized a steering committee to urge Amtrak to make the change.
“We thought if they’re replacing, it why not put one in that’s a little higher,” Williams said.
Currently, only small boats such as flat bottom skiffs and inflatables can fit under the railroad bridges, and at high tide no boats can fit underneath. By increasing the clearance anywhere from 21 inches to 3 feet, boats in the 20-foot range with inboard-outboard motors and deep v-hulls would be able to access the upper harbor, where Don’s Dock marina is located.
“If we could get 21 inches that would be significant and with three feet almost every reasonable-sized inboard-outboard could access the cove,” Chesebrough said. The group said this would increase public access to the water.
The group has already sent a letter with 700 signatures to Amtrak President David Gunn.
In that letter the group wrote “the current height of the railroad bridges constitute an unreasonable restriction to access of the public trust, given the increasing nature of today’s demands on that scarce resource.”
Since sending the letter the group has collected at least another 300 signatures and gained the support of U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Second District, whose transportation aide has been working with the group.
Amtrak is seeking bids for the project so the group needs to get the agency to include any engineering changes in its design. Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black was not available for comment about whether Amtrak will incorporate the additional clearance into its design.
Gunn responded to the group’s letter, saying Amtrak would certainly attempt to improve the clearance.
“However due to the physical and environmental constraints at these bridge sites, it is unlikely that any significant increase can be achieved,” Gunn wrote.
He pointed out that raising the bridges just a few inches would affect the tracks for thousands of feet in each direction because the trains need to run on a level grade. He said Amtrak must consider the cost of such work in relation to its limited funding and critical work needed at other bridges.
The group then wrote to Simmons’ aide saying the clearance could be increased without raising the railroad bed. The current bridges extend about 7 feet down to the water from the railroad tracks. The group feels that reducing that dimension by using engineering and construction methods not available when the bridges were built more than a century ago could provide the increased clearance it seeks.
“We’ve talked to enough people with expertise in this area who say it can be done,” Williams said.