Arrigoni Bridge Repair: It May be a Nightmare, but it's Necessary

Commuters who routinely travel west over the Arrigoni Bridge into Middletown for work aren’t looking forward to 18 months of construction delays, characterizing it as “dreadful” or a “nightmare,” but they recognize the importance of the project.

According to last summer’s Arrigoni Bridge Inspection and Testing Program report, the Portland Bridge received a National Bridge Inspection Standards rating of 4, or poor.

“Just the thought of it makes me cringe,” says Lisa Mountain of the Middletown Health Department. “Once they do get the concrete barriers up, I think it’s going to be a nightmare.”

Already, Mountain says, who works 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., when she leaves work to return home to Portland, “with two lanes, it backs up all the way down Main.”

Although she concedes the work is necessary.

“The only action they had would be to build a new bridge, but by the time they did that, it would be too late, that’s what I’m told.”

Like Mountain, Christine Valerie, a paralegal at Shapiro Law Offices in Middletown, comes in from Portland weekdays.

“I think it’s going to be dreadful. I can’t even imagine,” she says.

“I know there are alternative ways to go through Glastonbury, but I don’t even know how to get there.”

So Valerie is taking a pragmatic approach.

“Eighteen months prolongs the agony. I’m just trying to laugh about it. It normally takes such a short time, maybe 10 minutes. Now I’ll have to have alternate ways to amuse myself.”

“I plan to stagger my hours, not drive during rush hour,” says longtime minister at First Church in Middletown John Hall.

“There’s a lot of talk among people who live over here. They really understand the work needs to be done. The bridge really is in bad shape,” he explains.

“I’ve seen pictures of the rusted steel: it’s certainly sobering.”

Fortunately, Hall, who retires this week from First Church, has options.

“I’m flexible. I can work a lot from home. I don’t have to be in Middletown at 8 or 9 a.m. like many people. I can come in late in the morning, 10 or 11 a.m.”

An avid environmentalist, Hall has thought ahead. Although vehicles will be reduced to one lane, he doesn’t expect the pedestrian walkway will be closed.

“I’ll use my bike in the mornings when I’m not going to need my car over there. I’m retired at the end of June, but I’ll be working in city hall in energy management. When I don’t need the car, I’ll either bike over the bridge or park in a parking spot [on the Portland side] and bring my bike over.”

Hall has the logistics down.

“The main thing people will do as an accommodation or strategy is to try to get over the bridge either earlier or later than they normally would.”

And although being stuck in gridlock traffic is no one’s idea of a good time, especially in the summer, Hall concedes to the inevitable.

“This bridgework needs to be done. You hear news from around the world, Africa and Asia, [in comparison] this will be a slight inconvenience. We need to put it into perspective.”

“I tend to not get excited about these types of things we can’t do anything about,” says Bobbie Fergione of Marlborough, director of development, or philanthropy, at Middlesex Hospital.

Fergione works from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Middletown. “I think obviously the project needs to happene, there’s not a good time for it to happen. So let’s just do it. I’m not looking forward to the next 18 months … I plan to leave earlier to get to work on time.”

“In a sense I feel a little fortunate because I live in Marlborough center, so I can just jump on Route 2, go up to Glastonbury and take 91 North or I could go through the woods and over the East Haddam bridge.

“I feel worse for the people in the middle of East Hampton.”

Fergione is hoping for the best. “I think I’m going to try my regular route, straight up 66 and over the bridge. I’ll throw things in the car. If I’m at a dead standstill, I’ll thrown the Kindle in there. If we’re truly not moving, I’ll bring the Bluetooth and catch up on my phone calls and talk with all my friends stuck on the bridge.”

Johanna Bond of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce is adjusting her work hours, coming in at 7 a.m. and leaving between 2:30 and 3 p.m. "It’s going to be a change, that’s for sure."

"Honestly, I’ve been stuck in traffic sometimes for a long time when a car gets stuck on the side of the bridge," Bond says, imagining what the delay will be like if that happens now, let along an accident. She says she doesn't want to use alternate routes.

"I’m not going to put myself through a three-hour commute going down to Haddam or up to Glastonbury," says Bond, whose husband is a police officer in Portland and she needs to be home for when her kids get off the school bus."

She said these kinds of adjustments will have to be made by others. "We all have to take it upon ourselves, we all have to try to do our best to pull through this."

Up-to-the minute information on the bridgework, including current speeds, are offered.

Four cameras are available online to see still photos of traffic going over the bridge. 

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