By Andy Brophy

WESTPORT–A new bridge on Jesup Road, to replace the bridge severely damaged in Sept. 13’s flash flood, may not be built for at least a year, but that shouldn’t have an impact on police response times.

Police Lt. Anthony Prezioso, a Police Department spokesman, said officers on patrol don’t respond to calls from the Police Department on Jesup Road, though Westport Emergency Medical Services and Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service, which work together and are both dispatched from the Police Department’s property, may experience a slight delay by not being able to traverse the Jesup Road bridge.

Prezioso said he wasn’t aware of any plans to relocate the emergency medical service organizations, which respond to 2,400 calls a year, to another site until the new Jesup Road bridge opens.

Larry Roberts, director of the town’s Department of Public Works, said the bridge was too damaged to repair and had to be replaced. He estimated a new bridge wouldn’t open for 12 to 18 months.

“That is just an estimate right now,” Roberts said. “We’re expediting the process, but we still have to go through the permitting process.”

Roberts said he’s hopeful construction of the new bridge would be fully financed by state and federal grants, though the town may have to pay the cost of designing the new bridge.

Roberts said late last week that the damaged bridge may be demolished in the near future to ensure no one attempts to traverse it. “The bridge is so compromised … we’re thinking of removing it in advance. It’s really in very poor shape right now,” he said.

Prezioso said Monday that concrete barriers, known as Jersey barriers, have been set up to block anyone from trying to cross the bridge.

The new bridge may be larger and wider because the existing bridge was undersized for the storms that Westport experiences, Roberts said.

Gail Coykendall, a member of the Representative Town Meeting’s Public Works Committee, said last week that she’s concerned about the bridge closure’s impact on emergency medical responders and traffic and would like representatives from the Police and Public Works Department to meet with RTM members. She said she’d like to hear the necessity and feasibility of a new location for Westport’s emergency medical service providers.

Peter Gold, also a member of the RTM’s Public Works Committee, said he didn’t think police  response times would be delayed because patrol officers are on the road during their shifts. He said he saw more of a potential impact on traffic and ways residents access downtown locations.

Gold questioned whether Taylor Place, which is opposite Main Street and one way toward the Post Road, was wide enough to become two ways. He said people may park in a lot on Imperial Avenue and walk to Westport Library.

“Yes, it will be an inconvenience and a nuisance for some people,” Gold said of the long-term bridge closure. “Hopefully they’ll fix the bridge quickly. I think [motorists] will find shortcuts.”

First Selectman Kevin Christie didn’t respond to questions e-mailed to his office Monday afternoon about whether the town planned to look for another site for Westport emergency medical services’ vehicles and personnel until the new bridge opens; whether Taylor Place could be made two-way; and what measures (if any) the town was planning in response to the bridge closure.

Patrick Riddle, deputy director of Westport’s EMS, wasn’t available Wednesday morning to say whether he was concerned about the bridge closure’s impact on response times by ambulances stationed at the Police Department.

While police officers on patrol respond to calls, if additional resources are needed that are stationed at the Police Department, the bridge closure would impact their response times, Roberts said.

Roberts said the bridge was severely damaged by the volume of water in the Sept. 13 storm, which totaled seven inches in three hours and which went up and over the bridge. He said rocks and dirt that partly comprised the bridge had been “torn away” by the flash flood.

Andy Brophy

Andy Brophy is an experienced Fairfield County journalist. Andy was a staff writer at The Connecticut Post for 10 years. He also wrote for the Norwalk Hour, Fairfield Minuteman, Fairfield Patch and weekly newspapers in Westport, Fairfield and Norwalk. When not reporting, Andy enjoys playing chess and listening to pianist Art Tatum. ^_.