The closing of the pedestrian walkway over the Noroton Heights train station is forcing Darien commuters such as Alex Lindstrom to walk extra lengths to get from one side of the tracks to the other. Lindstrom and others were surprised last week to find that the walkways were closed and would remain so until the middle of July.
"It's tough," Lindstrom said as he got off the train Thursday evening and detoured over the bridge on Hollow Tree Ridge Road to get to his apartment at Avalon. "Especially when there are track changes like this morning, when you have 100 people running back and forth, and they have to go twice as far."
The walkway was closed last week so workers could remove lead paint from it. Jim Cameron of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council said commuters have complained to him that they hadn't received any warning of the repairs from the state Department of Transportation.
"The most important thing is that the DOT be fully transparent. I don't think they gave sufficient notice," Cameron said, adding that signs should have been put up well in advance.
The repairs are only one part of the much-delayed station improvements at Noroton Heights. The DOT removed the canopies over the New York-bound side in April 2010, but their return was delayed to complete overhead catenary work. Working on both projects would have shut down too many tracks.
"You shouldn't take the roof off if you can't replace it in a matter of days, let alone for a year and a half," Cameron said.
He hopes the repairs will be completed as scheduled by mid-July but fears the DOT's track record might mean it will take longer.
Is the repair work at the Noroton Heights train station making your commute more difficult? Or are you glad to see the work being done? Tell us in the comments below, on Facebook and on Twitter.
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