I Read the 308-Page North Street Bridge Bid Documents. Here’s What’s Really In It
The Town’s plan for the 2026 closure has a $40,000-per-day penalty, a $200,000 incentive, and strict protections for school traffic
For months, the impending replacement of the North Street Bridge has been one of the top concerns in District 11—and for good reason. The potential impact on traffic, nearby schools, emergency services, and our daily lives is significant. As your RTM representative, I believe oversight starts before the first shovel hits the ground.
That’s why I read the entire 308-page invitation to bid (Project No. 22-16) that the Town recently released. I wanted to see, in black and white, the specific way Greenwich Public Works is implementing the BET’s direction and protecting D11 residents from a project that drags on forever.
My main takeaway? We got a distinctive non-standard town contract. It has been specifically engineered with massive financial penalties and strong incentives to force the contractor to get the work done within a very specific, non-negotiable window. Will be very interesting to see the market response, cross your fingers!
Here are the most important details you need to know.
1. The 71-Day Summer Closure is Locked In
The contract explicitly defines the maximum period of full road closure. This is the single most critical detail for our community.
The 71-day full closure is scheduled to begin on June 8, 2026, and must end on or before August 28, 2026.
This 10-week window is clearly designed to fit between the last day of school and the start of the next school year. All other work must be done using alternating one-way traffic, not a full closure.
2. The 2.7-Mile Detour
So, where will traffic go during that 71-day closure? The bid package confirms a formal “Detour Plan” will be in effect 24/7. The contract specifies this will be an “approximate 2.7-mile detour” to manage traffic around the site. The contractor is also required to notify the Town and all emergency first responders 14 days before the closure officially begins.
3. The $40,000-Per-Day Hammer
This is the most powerful tool the Town has.
If the contractor fails to reopen the road by the August 28, 2026 deadline, they will be penalized $40,000 for every single calendar day they are late.
This “Milestone Liquidated Damage” is separate from any other penalty in the contract. It’s an exceptionally high number and shows the Town is not bluffing.
4. The $200,000 Early-Bird Bonus
The Town isn’t just using a stick; it’s also offering a carrot. The bid includes a $200,000 “Milestone Incentive” payment.
To get the full bonus, the contractor must finish and reopen the road 10 days early, by August 18, 2026. The bonus is reduced by $20,000 for every day they are late after that, disappearing entirely on the August 28 deadline.
This gives the winning bidder a 200,000-dollar-reason to finish ahead of schedule.
5. Peak-Hour Traffic is Protected
The total project is scheduled for 275 days, so what happens during the other 204 days outside the summer closure?
I was pleased to find this: the contract explicitly prohibits the contractor from interfering with traffic during peak school and commuter hours. During the pre- and post-closure phases, any alternating one-way traffic is not allowed during these windows:
6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
(Monday through Friday)
This is a direct and enforceable protection for our daily commutes. But wow, it imposed significant constraints on the bidders.
6. Police Overtime Factored In
The contract requires police officers for traffic control during the alternating-traffic phases. The Town has already budgeted an estimated $208,000 for this line item, which will be a real cost to taxpayers.
7. The Summer Storm Risk
This is the part I’ll be watching closely. The contract requires the builder’s temporary water-bypass system (cofferdams, pumps, etc.) to be designed to handle only a 2-year storm event.
While the final bridge is designed for a 100-year floodway, the construction site itself is vulnerable to being overtopped by a major summer storm or hurricane.
The contract states that typical weather is not an excuse for delays, but a declared “catastrophic” event could grant the contractor a time extension, potentially pushing them past the August 28 deadline. This might lead to arm-wrestling based on who exactly determines a storm is “catastrophic."
8. What About Flooding?
Many of you have asked if this project will fix the flooding in the area. The simple answer is that it will help traffic safety, but it won’t address flooding. The new bridge will be higher and is designed to improve the flow of West Brothers Brook during a 100-year flood. This will reduce a major bottleneck, but it is not a comprehensive flood mitigation project for the entire watershed (which depends on comprehensive improved all along the watercourse that haven’t been planned).
9. It’s Complicated: A “Bridge for the Pipes”
Finally, the bid confirms just how complex this job is. The contractor must design and build a separate temporary bridge just to hold the existing CNG gas main and Aquarion water main, while also supporting the temporary Eversource poles. This utility work is a major reason for the project’s cost and timeline.
My Takeaway
This is a novel, most time-focused construction contracts I’ve seen from the Town. The financial penalties for failure are severe, the incentives for success are strong, and the protections for our school and commuter traffic are written in black and white. Its also not the low-cost option. That’s an outlier for Greenwich Public Works projects. The BET agreed to spend more than the minimum to adjust the replacement plan to ameliorate expected community impact. This is an important experiment to learn from: will D11 residents get the “bang for the buck” of reduced inconvenience that the town is investing in extra costs?
The Town has done its job in creating a contract that holds the builder’s feet to the fire. Now, it all comes down to what bids come in and then the winner’s execution.
As your RTM member, I will continue monitoring this project closely. Please share this with your neighbors and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Disclaimer: This post represents my opinion as a member of the RTM and not the RTM, its committee, or the Town of Greenwich.