Tag Archives: I-95 bridge

Roundup: Politics, Bagels, Bridges …

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong addressed the Democratic Women of Westport’s “Souper Luncheon” yesterday.

He began with his own compelling story: after working as a youngster in his immigrant parents’ Chinese restaurant, he graduated from Brown University and the University of Chicago Law School (where he took constitutional law with Professor Barack Obama). He is president-elect of the National Association of Attorneys General.

Noting that the nation is now in a constitutional crisis, Tong described the role of sovereign states in a republic; outlined the challenges ahead, and offered ways for his audience to take action.

He balanced a sober assessment of the current political climate in Washington, with an affirmation of the system of checks and balances.

William Tong, at yesterday’s Democratic Women of Westport luncheon. (Photo/Dan Woog)

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Speaking of politics: Former CNN journalists (and Westport residents) Alisyn Camerota and Dave Briggs have impressive Rolodexes — er, contact lists.

The latest “A” list guest on their very insightful, educational and entertaining podcasts: David Axelrod.

Camerota and Briggs chatted with the chief strategist for, and senior advisor to, Barack Obama about the current state of American democracy, national security failures, and whether Democrats are ready to lead. Click here to see, or below.

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PopUp Bagels continues to pop up everywhere.

The Westport-based company — born during COVID as take-out only, which has since won Best Bagels awards in mighty Brooklyn, and opened stores in the Big Apple and elsewhere — has just hit double digits.

The 10th PopUp Bagels is now selling its wares (and schmears) at 57th Street and Lexington Avenue.

Over the next couple of weeks they’ll open 2 more, at 7 Penn Plaza, and Driggs Street in Williamsburg.

At this rate they’ll need an entirely new tagline.

From left: Jenn Geller, who originally drove from New York to Westport to buy PopUp Bagels; original investor Karen Elizaga; founder Adam Goldberg and his wife Jen; original investor Jay Ptashek.

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You probably expect it every time you’re on I-95, but here’s a warning: From Monday (March 31) through April 25, the state Department of Transportation will perform bridge maintenance work, from Greenwich to Exit 50 in New Haven.

There will be lane and shoulder closures northbound and southbound, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tranquil underneath. Traffic jams on top. (Photo/Dana Kuyper)

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“Theatre People” — the current Westport Country Playhouse production — is about (duh) the theater.

Tomorrow (March 30, approximately 5 p.m., following the 3 p.m. matinee), they host a Sunday Symposium on “Theater Adaptations” — plays sourced from previous materials.

Gutets include cast member Erin Noel Grennan and Paul Walsh, Yale University theatre professor and historian. Anne Keefe, former Playhouse co-artistic director and Script in Hand curator, will moderate.

The event is free, and open to the public. For more information on “Theatre People,” click here.

For the show’s trailer, click below:

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TAP Strength kicked off its “life span and health span” series recently, with a talk about “Effortless Wellness.”

TAP founder Dr. EJ Zebro and Jennifer Boyd offered tips and insights. Click here or click on below, to see what you missed.

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Ace “Westport … Naturally” photographer Lou Weinberg says: “Red-breasted mergansers are the punk rockers of the duck world. It is rumored to be the favorite bird of the Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten.

“They are among the fastest ducks in the world, able to fly up to 80 miles an hour. They must ‘run on water’ in order to take flight, and have serrated bills to catch and hold onto slippery fish. Because of this saw-like bill, their Latin name is mergus serrator.

“Primarily pescatarian, they are great divers. They can stay underwater for up to a minute.”

And now, without further ado, from Burying Hill Beach:

(Photo/Lou Weinberg)

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And finally … Pearl Bailey was born on this date, in 1918. The Broadway, film and TV star — and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree — died in 1990.

(Sure, it’s the weekend. But “06880” is here, with another Roundup filled with news and information — just like every day, all year long, since 2009. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

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Saugatuck River and I-95, at night (Photo/Judy Auber Jahnel)

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I-95 bridge project, at Exit 17 (Photo/Whitmal Cooper)

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Franklin Street I-95 underpass (Photo/JD Dworkow)

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Cribari Bridge, lit for the holidays. Will the new year bring a new bridge? (Photo/John Videler for Videler Photography

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Shimmering I-95 bridge (Photo/Susan Leone)

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Saugatuck River scene (Photo/Tracy Porosoff)

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Boats and the I-95 bridge (Photo/June Rose Whittaker)

Saugatuck Railroad Bridge: The Project No One Talks About

Everyone is talking about the William F. Cribari Bridge. It’s over 130 years old. Should it be renovated, or replaced?

No one is talking about the Saugatuck River railroad bridge. It’s 116 years old. It too is nearing the end of its useful life.

Metro-North railroad bridge, looking south toward Long Island Sound.

The Metro-North span is one of 8 movable train bridges in the state. If it is replaced by a fixed structure — a project that could cost $75 million — what will happen to businesses upriver, like marinas, that depend on it being opened?

And if it is unable to open, what does that mean for the equipment — tugboats, barges, piledrivers — needed to dredge the river?

Railroad bridge over the Saugatuck River. (Photo/Patricia McMahon)

Speaking of which: When will the river be dredged?

The last major work was done in the 1950s. Before and after, barges traveling to and from the Gault oil tanks (around the site of what is now Saugatuck Sweets) sometimes scraped the bottom of the river. Those barges, and tugboats accompanying them, helped maintain the river.

The Gault oil tanks on Riverside Avenue, between the Cribari Bridge (left) and the railroad bridge, were not environmentally healthy for the Saugatuck River. But barge and tugboat traffic helped prevent buildup of silt on the bottom.

First Selectwoman Diane Farrell turned down funding for a dredging project, more than 20 years ago. Since then, the addition of businesses like kayak rentals and the Saugatuck Rowing Club has spurred an increased demand for recreational opportunities.

There are signs near the Levitt Pavilion that the river is becoming unnavigable. If a navigable channel is dry at low tide, it will no longer be maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Saugatuck River is becoming unnavigable at times far south of the Pavilion. (Photo/Lynn U. Miller)

What will that do to the waterway that once drove commerce all the way from Saugatuck to downtown — and which figures prominently in plans for a revitalization of downtown, with ideas like docks and a floating restaurant?

The other day, the Army Corps took some river samples, tied to possible work on the railroad bridge. They’re likely to find contamination in the area of that span, and I-95. Decades of train travel, and cars and trucks driving on the nearby highway, must have had an impact on the river below.

The railroad and I-95 bridges. (Photo/Brandon Malin)

Westporters should consider — and be talking about — the futures of both the Saugatuck River from Long Island Sound up to the Post Road bridge, and the Saugatuck River railroad bridge near its mouth.

The Cribari Bridge is important. But its just one part of an entire marine and transportation ecosystem that impacts our entire town.

The Saugatuck River, near Rive Bistro (Photo/Lauri Weiser)

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Saugatuck River and I-95 bridge (Photo/Patricia McMahon)