There are 2 big issues in Westport this week: Old Mill Grocery, and the Cribari Bridge.
“06880” is following both closely. Here are yesterday’s developments.
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s ruling by Superior Court Judge Dale Radcliffe, sustaining the plaintiffs’ lawsuit against Old Mill Grocery & Deli, town attorney Ira Bloom told “06880”:
My law partners and I have been reviewing the trial court decision carefully. We continue to disagree with the trial court’s analysis. The trial court sustained the appeal by the neighbors, thus voiding the text changes, and specifically ordered OMG to cease any activities inconsistent with the lawful preexisting use, including the sale of alcohol.
At this point I need to confer with the Planning & Zoning Commission, First Selectman Christie, and counsel for OMG to review our options. I will have more information in a few days. To answer your question regarding the other 2 properties (Gruel Britannia and The Country Store on Wilton Road), yes, they are also directly impacted by the court decision.
Bloom added:
Appeals in land use cases are not automatic. A party desiring to appeal a trial court decision must file a Petition for Certification to the Appellate Court, which is a request to the Appellate Court to take the case on appeal.
The petition must state the grounds. It is then discretionary with the Appellate Court. Any party has 20 days from the trial court decision to file a petition.
Old Mill Grocery & Deli. (Photo/Nathan Greenbaum)
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As part of its ongoing study of the Cribari Bridge rehabilitation/replacement project, the state Department of Transportation has released a detailed Environmental Assessment and Evaluation.
The 160-page document offers details of the current bridge, including history, traffic, functional issues, and controversy over its future.
The bulk of the report covers “environment and environmental consequences,” spanning property acquisition, socioeconomics, traffic, public safety, visual and aesthetics, cultural resources, water quality, navigable waters, wetlands, floodplains and coastal resources.
Five alternatives are mentioned throughout:
- No build
- Conservation
- Rehabilitation
- Replacement on-alignment
- Replacement off-alignment.
DOT consistently offers “replacement on-alignment” — the same alignment as the existing structure — as its preferred alternative.
Click here for the full report. (Hat tip: Robbie Guimond)
Cribari Bridge, as shown in DOT Environmental report …
… and an aerial view, from the same document.
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Let’s say 7 customers show up at the Old Mill Grocery and Deli, where do they park? Is that blue car in an Old Mill off street parking lot? Is the snow covering up parking space on the street? Is there a parking lot in the back that isn’t in the picture? I’ve never been there so as far as I’m concerned, these are my legitimate questions.
The 160 page Environmental Assessment CTDOT created is long on assumptions. There is no modeling or traffic study to back them up. And the assumptions do not match the reality of being stuck in I-95 overflow traffic on local roads.
On page 79, CTDOT offers: “The Rehabilitation Alternative and or lead to a more both Replacement Alternatives are not anticipated to generate new or additional truck traffic to and through the area. Since there are no improvements to the surrounding local roadway network beyond the immediate project area, truck drivers are more apt to continue to use I-95 or Route 1 to cross the Saugatuck River. In addition, the Town of Westport is able to impose limitations on truck traffic on its local roads. The roadway geometry and safety measures along the bridge would continue to be substandard in terms of travel lanes and shoulder widths.”
When I-95 traffic backed up after the 2024 Norwalk Fairfield Bridge tanker truck disaster Westport police had to be stationed at the intersection of Greens Farms Road and the Sherwood Island thruway connector to redirect the trucks that found Greens Farms Road a desirable alternative route.
The “substandard shoulder widths” are where Westport kids wait for the school busses and where Westport cyclists ride.Handing off what CTDOT acknowledges as “substandard” and looks dangerous to local authorities while creating conditions that introduce the potential for much higher risk seems to be an implicit result.
Given the bridge’s location within a National Register historic district, a more explicit evaluation of potential long-term and cumulative truck effects would provide credibility and strengthen CTDOT’s analysis and lead to a more satisfactory solution.
Werner, your argument might hold water—though only in a very small cup, like the kind they give you at the dentist—if you explained why the multiple historic homes along Riverside Ave, including possibly the oldest one in town, magically don’t count.
Then toss in two elementary schools and a prestigious preschool, with parents parking on both sides of the street at peak chaos`, toddlers dangling off elbows, and the scene really sparkles once you add the church crowd treating Riverside Ave like a game of Frogger.
You mention bus stops; adorable. We’ve got those too—thanks for remembering the kids in the conversation. Should we also add the kids biking to and from, or is that level of reality inconvenient for the “Bridge Street is the best” narrative?
And finally, that right turn onto Ruth’s Bridge at National Hall, which is on the historic register—does that not earn some kind of exemption from the usual I‑95‑proximity struggles?
It seems the water is spilling onto your bib, but feel free to explain at the RTM Zoom next week.
One important clarification: the Bridge Street area isn’t just “a neighborhood preference.” It is part of the Bridge Street Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That designation doesn’t make one area more important than another — but it does trigger specific federal review standards when projects may alter the character of the district.
The reason this matters in the bridge discussion is that federal law requires agencies to consider how changes — including traffic composition, noise, and setting — could affect a recognized historic district before decisions are finalized.
Many parts of Westport face traffic and safety concerns, and those are valid community conversations. The specific question here is whether the potential long-term effects on a National Register historic district are being fully and transparently evaluated.
That’s a process question more than a neighborhood rivalry — and it’s why public participation in the review matters.
Jack Backiel – when my family shows up at Old Mill Grocery and Deli, we walk there! It is exactly one mile from our home and it is the ONLY walkable public place within that mile. When I invite people to meet there for breakfast, coffee, lunch, whatever, and they need to drive, there is plenty of parking in the town lot at Old Mill Beach. Old Mill Grocery is a treasure and I would encourage you to go down there and enjoy a visit.
Thanks for the reply. I have never been in that neighborhood and was writing and asking questions from the photo. The next time in town I’m going to drive by.