Stonington — Town and borough officials said they’re optimistic that the state Department of Transportation is paying attention to their questions about a $25.5 million plan to replace the Alpha Avenue viaduct.

First Selectwoman Danielle Chesebrough said town officials met this past Tuesday with DOT staff, who she said were receptive to hearing quality-of-life, economic and public safety concerns.

Chesebrough said town and borough officials would meet with the DOT again in four weeks after the DOT reviewed both a $13.3 million significant repair option to the viaduct as well as the controversial plan to replace the sole egress from the borough at a $3.8 million cost to the town.

DOT spokesman Josh Morgan said in a statement Friday that the local input on the project was vital and the agency would continue to work with local officials and stakeholders to determine the best option to meet the needs of the community and ensure the safety of the bridge, which is officially called the Frank Turek Viaduct.

The plan to replace the 83-year-old bridge announced last month would require closing off Cutler Street as well as Mathews/Main Street as well as taking private property through eminent domain including parking lots, “a part of a building,” and portions of a boatyard.

A photograph of the building included in the report shows the Stonington Community Center (the COMO) Thrift Shop on Cutler Street, and, though not identified, the sole boatyard near the viaduct is Dodson’s Boatyard which uses property along the viaduct to store boats in the off season.

Matthew Haugen, COMO executive director, declined to comment about the DOT plan other than to say the thrift shop is an integral part of the organization.

Bob Snyder, the owner of Dodson’s Boatyard said on Friday he would reserve comment until he had more information on the extent of the project.

Replace or repair options

The replacement plan and three other repair options were detailed in a report produced by an engineering consultant the DOT hired for the project, CHA Consulting Inc. of Mansfield.

The replacement plan would provide a 75-year life span with little required maintenance while the extensive repair option would come with higher maintenance costs and extend the bridge life span by only 50 years, making replacement a more cost-effective option in the long term. The consultant’s report recommends an extensive $13.3 million repair option that takes no land and leaves Cutler, Main and Mathews streets open.

“In four weeks, we should have more definitive information,” Chesebrough said.

She said her understanding is that DOT would consider options for the replacement plan that would not dead end the roads under the viaduct, and would do more research into the repair option.

“They came into the meeting strictly thinking it was an economic decision that they made, and the cost benefit analysis they made, without understanding the real-time impacts, was to replace the bridge,” said Borough Warden Michael Schefers on Wednesday. He too said the DOT representatives seemed receptive to local concerns.

Town Engineer Chris Greenlaw, said Thursday that he raised multiple issues at the meeting that were not identified or accounted for in the report, including potential water displacement and drainage issues caused by a proposed embankment used to raise the ground level beneath the bridge and a need to upgrade or relocate the 83-year-old drainage system which would potentially be under the embankment.

He explained that without an upgrade, the integrity of the embankment could be compromised if the drainage system were to fail.

“There should be an upgrade to our drainage that is consistent with their plan such that, when the state leaves, we don’t have a failure in our drainage that is on our tab,” he said.

He also noted potential safety issues if the height of the bridge is raised to comply with federal regulations for clearance over rail lines. He said increasing the height would also increase the steepness of the roadway as it intersects Water Street, which may be at odds with highway regulations which specify how intersections with skewed alignments should be handled.

Borough Fire Chief Jeff Hoadley also raised safety concerns including the proposed plan to dead end roads under the viaduct.

In fact, road paving this past week caused Water Street to be impassable, and all traffic had to pass under the viaduct on Main Street to exit the borough.

He also noted that alternate plans will have to be developed for any construction work on the bridge because all the borough’s first responders live outside the borough, and the proposed one-lane alternating traffic pattern proposed for both repair and replacement could cause significant impacts to response time.

“Our objective is to make sure this gets done for the best of not only public safety but the community as a whole,” he said.