Officials are exploring ideas for the North Stonington Road Bridge in Old Mystic, which has been out for more than a decade.

In their annual budgets over the years, Groton and Stonington have considered funding the replacement of the bridge, which is located in both towns, but their plans were never in line, local officials said.

The Old Mystic Fire Department has long raised concerns that the closure of the small bridge creates a safety hazard.

The bridge was found to be in poor condition following a 500-year storm in March 2010, Groton Town Manager John Burt said. A safety check after the storm and subsequent inspection revealed several issues, according to a document from the Town of Groton. Groton and Stonington agreed to fund repairs to the bridge, but the repairs were stopped when it was discovered that the bridge deck would need to be replaced.

The cost to replace the bridge is estimated at $1.24 million, Burt said. A grant will cover about half of the cost, with the towns of Groton and Stonington needing to pick up the rest. Groton is responsible for about 58% of the towns' share, though Groton and Stonington could enter into an agreement to change the cost-sharing formula if they wish, according to a town document.

This past Tuesday, Groton invited Stonington First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough and Stonington Board of Finance member Lynn Young and Old Mystic Fire Chief Kenneth Richards Jr. to the Groton Town Council Committee of the Whole meeting.

The Groton Town Council met about a year ago with Stonington to discuss the possibility of funding the bridge in this year's budget but that didn't work out, so the council wanted to re-engage in time for the upcoming budget process for next fiscal year, Burt said.

Chesebrough said there is no money in Stonington’s proposed 2022-23 Capital Improvement Plan budget to replace the bridge. She said the town is doing an assessment of its bridges to see what projects need to be done and that will be presented to the Board of Finance after budget season.

While several Groton Town councilors vocally expressed support for addressing the bridge at Tuesday's meeting, Chesebrough explained that Stonington has a lot of bridges facing the end of their useful life, as well as other infrastructure challenges. She said Stonington will have a better understanding of the needs once the assessment is completed.

She said Stonington has collaborated with Groton on a project to address a lack of hydrant access on the Groton side of the bridge. The $30,000 project calls for placing a pipe over Whitford Brook, which will allow for one side to be hooked up to a fire hydrant in Mystic and for a fire apparatus to hook up to it on the Groton side, Burt said. Stonington completed the design and Groton is providing the labor to construct the pipe, which is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

Chesebrough said Stonington is trying to be a good neighbor, such as by collaborating on that project, but raised a fiduciary duty question regarding Stonington taxpayers paying for a bridge for Groton residents.

During the meeting, Groton Town Councilor Melinda Cassiere read aloud part of a February 2020 letter from the fire department's lawyer that said: "The continued delay in the replacement of this bridge perpetuates a potentially life-threatening hazard to citizens of the Town of Groton." The bridge closure creates longer response times, the intersection of Main Street and Route 27 is a "major traffic hazard" for the emergency vehicles, and the closest fire hydrant is blocked by the bridge being closed. 

Old Mystic Fire Department's Station 1 is located on North Stonington Road, near the bridge. When the bridge was open, emergency vehicles from Station 1 used to take the bridge to go into Groton, but they now make a turn at Route 27 and Main Street by the Old Mystic Country Store.

The Old Mystic Fire Department responded to 1,315 calls for service last year, Richards said. Of those calls, 460 were in the town of Groton, and for about 80% of them the engine had to make the turn at the general store.

The department has had several "very close calls" at that intersection, Richards said. Vehicles coming from the Groton side — though not everybody — have a tendency to run the stop sign, he said.

When vehicles are parked at the general store, the engine can't see drivers coming down that way, he added.

He said there were numerous times in the last year that the intersection was so bad, the engine driver went down Route 27 and then took Interstate 95 to the Groton side.

Young suggested other solutions, such as installing a traffic light, and Chesebrough said she would follow up with the Stonington Board of Police Commissioners and the state Department of Transportation.

Groton Town Councilor Portia Bordelon suggested creating a working group — including local officials, the fire chief, community members and perhaps a representative of the general store — to keep the dialogue going and report ideas back to both Stonington and Groton governments.

Burt said Groton also is looking at what federal funding possibilities might exist, while state legislators are looking for state grant opportunities.

As far as the next steps, Burt told The Day that he will have to decide what to do for his budget recommendation to the council.

Other than that, he said, at this point the town will wait for Stonington to complete the review of its bridges in the next few months, to see whether Stonington officials have any interest in partnering at that time.

Day Staff Writer Joe Wojtas contributed to this report.

k.drelich@theday.com