Much of the debate about the William F. Cribari Bridge is binary: Replace the 139-year-old span, or renovate it.
Mary Gai has another idea. The longtime resident writes:
After reading a letter written to the state Department of Transportation by a Westporter, extolling the virtues of the temporary bridge that was constructed while the last repairs were made to the Cribari bridge about 30 years ago, a thought popped into my head.
The temporary bridge (left), built next to the Cribari Bridge. It came close to the Mansion Clam House (later Parker Mansion). The view is looking north, to Bridge Street. Bridge Square is on the right.
The bridge over the Saugatuck River is beloved, no doubt — but not all of us love the traffic congestion caused by its size and state of disrepair.
The letter proposed keeping the bridge, but leaving it in the open position to let boats through, while building another bridge like the wonderful temporary bridge that was so great for traffic and boats.
Keeping it open does not make a lot of sense to me. But what is keeping us from dedicating the Cribari bridge to pedestrian and bike traffic only? We can elevate it, with stairs on both ends and ramps for those who need them.
Then we can build a bridge like the temporary bridge we all loved 30-plus
years ago, for the cars and trucks.
Saugatuck is all grown up now, with many more residents than there were just a decade ago. Could this make everyone happy?
If this was previously presented as an idea and shot down, let’s revisit it. Our technology has to be better now. And we will be able keep the beautiful lights at holiday time … or all year long.
This rendering of a temporary replacement — while the current bridge would be worked on — was presented by the Cribari Bridge Project Advisory Committee in 2018. Could it be a permanent solution?
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