By John H. Palmer

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect a correction in scheduling by Town Engineer Keith Wilberg. The bridge will be replaced in the summer of 2026, not this summer as originally reported.

WESTPORT – Gov. Ned Lamont announced today that Westport is among 46 small town in Connecticut included in a $30 million state grant program to help complete infrastructure improvements, such as road safety reconstruction projects, emergency management upgrades, sidewalk and pedestrian safety enhancements, educational and recreational facility upgrades, and other kinds of capital improvement projects.

The stone bridge that carries Cross Highway over Deadman Brook will be replaced by a wider span.

Westport will receive $1 million in state funding to replace the Cross Highway Bridge over Deadman Brook. This amount will be matched by $1.1 million from the town, as well as another $619,846 from the Local Capital Improvement Program, also known as LoCIP, which distributes formula-based funds to municipalities for eligible local capital improvement projects such as road, bridge or public building construction activities.

“This is great news,” said Westport Town Engineer Keith Wilberg, who had not yet heard of the grant award as of Wednesday  morning.

The Cross Highway bridge is part of the town’s reconstruction project of the accident-prone corridor. The area has been the site of more than 20 vehicle accidents between North Avenue and Bayberry Lane in the last three years, according to town officials.

The existing span with stone parapets is only 25 feet wide and does not allow space for construction of sidewalks on the busy two-lane street. Pedestrians are forced to use the edge of travel lanes to cross.

The bridge, built in 1930, has been rated as “substandard” by the state’s Department of Transportation, and has a remaining life span of only 15 years.

Construction work, estimated to cost $2 million, will take place next summer on a semi-accelerated schedule that will allow it to be reopened before the new school year starts, as the bridge is located close to four schools and athletic fields. Originally, public works officials had hoped to finish the project by the end of this summer, but a scheduling issue with contractors forced the project to be delayed until next summer, according to Wilberg.

State grant program helps small town projects

The Representative Town Meeting approved the project in January, along with an almost $6 million appropriation in a joint venture with Fairfield to build a new bridge at Old Road crossing Sasco Creek on the border of the two towns.

The grants are being provided through the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP), a state program managed by the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management (OPM) that delivers grants to small towns for economic development, community conservation, and quality-of-life capital projects. In addition to the grants from the state, each municipality is also contributing funds, bringing the total spent on the 48 projects to $43.4 million in a combination of state, local, and other funding sources.

“Our small towns are an important part of what makes Connecticut such a special place to live and work,” Lamont said in a statement released today. “By partnering with each town, we can help get these infrastructure projects completed so these towns can continue to thrive, remain competitive, attract businesses, and improve the quality of life for our residents.”

John Palmer, a Norwalk native, is executive editor of the Westport Journal, and has covered community news in Fairfield County and Massachusetts for over 30 years. He can be contacted at jpalmer@westportjournal.com.