By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A drive along the traffic-choked Post Road and other arterial roads Friday afternoon was enough to shake one’s confidence in a civil society.

People have observed at recent traffic safety meetings that behavior behind the wheel has grown noticeably worse since the pandemic hit and Westport experienced a population surge from afar.

And then came a tractor-trailer fuel truck collision that roasted an overpass on Interstate 95 in Norwalk early Thursday, closing the Northeast’s primary roadway between New York and points northward perhaps until Monday.

In the meantime, that means a traffic nightmare for those trying to travel by car in area towns.

Public officials at many levels have urged drivers to stay home, work from home, and if they have to use the roads, at least be patient and follow traffic rules.

But patience and rules are too much to ask of some.

In Westport on Friday, gridlock appeared the rule, not the exception, as drivers, perhaps feeling they’d waited long enough, crept into traffic boxes without clearance ahead.

They’d block the center of the intersection, compounding a problem where many intersections stop moving when they should be, making everything worse for everybody. The very definition of gridlock.

Basically, when traffic lights turned green, there often was no place to go unless you wanted to broadside or sideswipe a gridlocker — someone who’s stoically lost peripheral vision and the ability to hear honking horns and the colorful salutations that came along with having blocked the box.

Yes, there were plenty of drivers showing patience and following traffic rules, stopping at that white stop bar on the pavement, until it looked they had clear passage.

Unfortunately, more than enough rode hard with an alternate attitude, making the inevitable I-95 spillover traffic tangle even worse.

Even a First Student school bus, heading down Post Road West at Riverside Avenue/Wilton Road, became a big yellow roadblock for a traffic signal cycle or more. But then again, can you imagine enough squirrely/entitled drivers leaving a bus enough room to get kids home in reasonable time with fair passage?

Does it really have to be this hard?

The situation was reminiscent of Bridgeporter Walt Kelly’s Earth Day cartoon from 1970 in which Pogo observed, “We have met the enemy, and he is us,” a twist on Oliver Hazard Perry’s quote from the War of 1812.

Hopefully the answer by Monday morning will be moot, when the state hopes to have I-95 open again in both directions.

Downtown traffic, but plenty of parking

Even with roads choked, Parker Harding Plaza on Friday afternoon had plenty of open parking spaces, which is not the norm. Main Street also had plenty of spots.

Mary Ciara Webster, a partner in the Main Street restaurant Nômade, said Thursday’s business was good, but not normal.

She said the newly instated three-hour parking limit at Parker Harding likely also was playing a role.

“You can’t really eat and then go and shop, and if you go shopping you don’t have time to eat,” she said. “So, you’re making people choose between one and the other.”

Representative Town Meeting member Sal Liccione, who lives downtown in District 9 and walks something of a beat, talking with merchants and workers daily, said business appeared to be off.

An art opening was sparsely attended, he noted, and several restaurants downtown had fewer patrons than normal for a Friday evening.

“Elm and Myrtle and Church Lane are all backed up,” Liccione said Friday evening of car traffic, adding the Baldwin Lot off Elm Street was far from full.

Norwalk businesses and restaurants noted a steep drop-off in business.

Quick state response, fed help expected

The state has mobilized quickly to demolish the compromised overpass and restore the pavement.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Gov. Ned Lamont visited the scene Friday and pledged state and federal support for getting the roadway cleared and open again, and the Fairfield Avenue overpass rebuilt.

The Norwalk Police Department, at the epicenter of it all, has posted regular updates on social media. The city’s emergency services have been flying drones to monitor traffic and redirect it as needed.

The state suggests people check its CTRoads webstite for updates.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 36 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.