Community Benefits

 

Norwalk's railroad network is an integral component of its vibrant community—commuters, tourists, and residents rely on the railroad for work, pleasure, and convenience. The WALK Bridge Program enhances the safety, reliability, and ease of travel throughout Norwalk and beyond with vital improvements and upgrades to the railroad infrastructure. It promotes economic development through infrastructure investment, the protection of potential upriver development, and reduced roadway congestion.

All projects related to the WALK Bridge Replacement are coordinated to take advantage of scheduled track outages to streamline work. This approach reduces rail and local road disruptions, lowers costs, and shortens construction durations necessary to complete the projects individually.

Committed to Norwalk

Additionally, the community has a range of benefits beyond the railroad and local roads. The Program seeks to protect Norwalk’s beautiful waterfront through wetland preservation while expanding waterfront access through the addition of bike and pedestrian trails and a new city dock. Educational panels are placed along the river to enrich the enjoyment of Norwalk’s natural landscapes. The Norwalk River is dredged as part of the WALK Bridge Program, preventing the riverbanks from becoming stagnant and preserving the attractiveness of Norwalk’s waterfront.

The collective work under the WALK Bridge program boosts economic development through infrastructure investment, the protection of potential up-river development, increased railroad reliability and reduced road congestion for residents, commuters and tourists. The Program has enhanced one of Norwalk’s most notable tourist attractions, the Maritime Aquarium. The Aquarium received upgrades to its exhibits, while the IMAX Theater was replaced with a state-of-the-art 4D theater built to the north of the Aquarium in 2021. Another tourist attraction, The Lockwood-Mathews Museum, received an educational exhibit on Norwalk’s railroading history and the restoration of the historic fencing surrounding the property was completed in 2021.

Culture, education and community participation are important elements of the Program. The WALK Bridge Welcome Center serves as a focal point in Program partnerships with the Norwalk Community. The Program uses the space to offer an education program, using the WALK Bridge as a concrete example of the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math in the real world.

Gallery

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The New WALK Bridge