The Maine Turnpike Authority has decided to keep one lane of the Stroudwater Street bridge open while repairing it after receiving a letter from the city calling the closure “irresponsible.”

Bruce Pelletier, public affairs assistant for the Turnpike Authority, said the Authority would now demolish one half of the bridge, leaving the other half open for traffic. He said traffic signals at either end of the bridge would control the two-way traffic on the one-lane bridge. After half of the bridge is complete, traffic would be shifted onto that half of the bridge, and the other half of the 50-year-old bridge would be demolished and reconstructed.

Pelletier said the change would increase the project time from the projected 12 months to 18 months, and would add about $400,000 to the initial $3 million estimate. The bridge would still have to be completely closed for approximately 30 days during construction to allow crews to work on a pipeline in the road underneath the bridge, said Pelletier. He did not have an exact time when this work would be happening.

The Authority had initially announced plans to completely close the bridge while it was being rebuilt, saying it would save money and shave six months off the project. Last month, the Authority held a public meeting in Westbrook, and many residents harshly criticized the plans, saying the closure would be a major inconvenience and would snarl traffic in the city.

On July 20, Mayor Bruce Chuluda sent a letter to Gov. John Baldacci, Maine Turnpike Authority Executive Director Paul Violette and Maine Transportation Commissioner David Cole asking that the bridge remain open.

“It has met with very strong opposition from the Westbrook City Council and many Westbrook residents,” said Chuluda. “While the Authority has reasonably addressed many of the specific concerns, it has not adequately responded to the overriding concerns over the diversion of traffic onto other streets and through intersections which are already operating at unacceptably poor levels.”

Chuluda asked the authority to consider public opinion and to keep the bridge open during construction. “In spite of these valid concerns, the Authority insists that the decision has been made to close the bridge and that issue will not be revisited,” said Chuluda. “The city finds this to be an unreasonable and irresponsible position for the Authority to take on an issue that impacts so many people.”

On Tuesday morning, Chuluda said he was pleased that the Authority listened to residents’ concerns and decided to keep the bridge open. “I’m pleased that they did that,” he said.

The bridge is actually in Portland, and Chuluda said he has spoken to Portland city officials who have told him they would support keeping the bridge open.

Pelletier said in matters where there is intense public opposition to a project, it is the Authority’s policy to comply with the wishes of the municipality. “We’d prefer to do it the other way,” said Pelletier. “It’s going to take longer and cost us more money. (But) we’re doing it the way the town instructed us to do it.”

While residents were concerned about the closure of the bridge dramatically affecting traffic in the city as commuters sought alternative routes, Pelletier said, even with one lane open, traffic will still seek alternatives to Stroudwater Street during the construction.

He said commuters would make a few attempts to go through the construction zone, and then would look for other ways to avoid the tie up at the bridge. “I would suspect residents would still see an increased amount of traffic on their roads even with one lane open,” said Pelletier.

The Authority is currently working on revising the bid documents to reflect the changed scope of the project, said Pelletier. He said he expects the bids to go out sometime later this month, with construction slated to begin sometime in mid-November, right around the time the Brighton Avenue project is completed and opened fully to traffic.