Trying to stop N.Y. State DOT in its tracks
Thirty foot ribbon demonstrating half the width of the new bridge.
Editor’s Note: Yesterday, August 21, the plaintiffs were given a court date of September 10. See inside.
August 22, 2008
by Christine Yeres
A bridge too wide
Last Friday, as Conti Construction workers and their vehicles crisscrossed the Route 120 bridge and the ground underneath it preparing their temporary offices and staging areas for bridge reconstruction, about 15 merchants and residents took hold of a yellow caution ribbon 30 feet long. They marched in a line up the bridge’s northern staircase, across it, and down its southern staircase. Back at ground level, demonstrators emphasized to reporters, photographers and passersby that the 30 foot length of tape was only half the width of the new bridge that Conti has come to build – a bridge that they believe will change the downtown for the worse.
Work on the bridge is scheduled to begin mid-September, but, fearing the trees might be taken down before that date, on Tuesday of this week James J. Periconi went to the Federal District Court’s White Plains office on behalf of the “Concerned Citizens of Chappaqua” to file a preliminary injunction the group hopes will stop the State DOT’s designs on the bridge. In a letter to the DOT, Periconi wrote that Concerned Citizens of Chappaqua believe “the demolition, replacement and widening of the historic Quaker Street Bridge . . . would be detrimental to the hamlet’s unique way of life” and that “the decision to destroy rather than repair the existing bridge has been made in violation of federal law.” See the text of Periconi’s letter to the DOT:
New Castle group write State DOT claiming decision to replace bridge is in violation of federal law
This just in:
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 10:30 AM-12:00 PM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada).
Where: 300 Quarropas St., White Plains (federal court)
A hearing in Judge Robinson’s court on plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction.
What do you think should happen with the Route 120 bridge? Click to tell us.
A Conti Construction worker passes by during the demonstration
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