Hours before tonight’s state Department of Transportation meeting about he Cribari Bridge (7 p.m.), a statement headlined “Westport United — One Voice: Shared Priorities for the William F. Cribari Memorial Bridge” has been released.
The statement — “United in support of Westport’s future” — has been endorsed by the Representative Town Meeting Transit Committee, nearly 2 dozen town leaders from both the Democratic and Republic parties, and 7 community organizations and coalitions. Together, they represent more than 7,000 Westporters.
The message says:
The future of the Cribari Bridge will affect Westport’s safety, transportation, historic character, environment, and neighborhoods for generations. We appreciate the significant work undertaken by the State of Connecticut and CTDOT, as well as the opportunity for federal funding and support.
We recognize the complexity of this project and share the goal of providing safe, reliable infrastructure.
On March 3, 2026, the Westport Representative Town Meeting adopted the following Sense of the Meeting resolution: RESOLVED: It is the sense of the Westport Representative Town Meeting that the Town administration should engage with the Connecticut Department of Transportation to ensure that the Cribari Bridge across the Saugatuck river is restored, rehabilitated or replaced as soon as practicable.
Any upgrade should at a minimum maintain or evoke the historic design of the current structure. The finished structure should be wide enough to include pedestrian and bike lanes and a height restriction to ensure that it will not provide access for semi tractor trucks.
We, the undersigned, support the principles expressed in this resolution and ask that they guide the evaluation of alternatives and any subsequent design and implementation. We believe that protecting surrounding residential streets and neighborhoods from increased truck traffic and other unintended transportation impacts should be an integral part of the planning process.
We respectfully ask Governor Ned Lamont, CTDOT, and the Federal Highway Administration to work collaboratively with Westport to incorporate these priorities into the project and provide a written response explaining how they will be addressed before final approvals. We want this project to succeed. Success should be measured not only by the bridge that is built or rehabilitated, but by how well it serves and protects Westport.
The messages was signed by the RTM Transit Committee/Cribari Bridge Subcommittee:
Melissa Levy, Claudia Shaum, Dick Lowenstein, Peter Gold, Rachel Cohn, Ross Burkhardt, Gail Coykendall, Victoria Wylie, Jenna Petok, Jill Grayson and Addison Moore.
It was also signed by these town leaders, in their individual capacities: Amy Wistreich, Jonathan Steinberg, Melissa Katz Kane, Danielle Dobin, Jeff Hammer, Liz Heyer, Rich Hightower, Brian Gaines, Paul Lebowitz, Craig Schiavone, Patrizia Zucaro, Michael Cammeyer, Neil Phillips, Jill Dillon, Abby Tolan, Nicole Laskin, Ron Corwin, Ken Bernhard, Larry Weisman, Markus Marty, Melissa Bernstein and Heidi Hammer.
The community organizations are Coalition for Westport, Greens Farms Association, Residents of the Bridge Street Neighborhood, Save Westport Now, Westport Preservation Alliance, and Westport Alliance for Saugatuck.
Additional endorsements are still being received.
If this bridge is going to be replaced, consideration must also be given to vertical clearance UNDER the bridge. Right now, many power boats cannot pass under the bridge at or even near high tide. Given the (apparent) plan to dredge the river, increasing the vertical clearance even to 8-10 feet at high tide could substantially improve access to the upper parts of the river for many boaters, which should encourage property owners to develop better water access in town.