Members of the Maine Turnpike Authority unanimously decided Tuesday to close down the Stroudwater Street bridge for nine months during bridge reconstruction.

Westbrook Mayor Bruce Chuluda, who urged the board to delay their decision, was disappointed. Chuluda asked the Authority for further study of an option, which would have allowed one-way traffic over the bridge during peak rush hour times.

“I don’t believe they fully considered the impact to Westbrook residents and commuters to the west of us,” Chuluda said following the board’s decision.

Chuluda read a resolution passed Monday night by the Westbrook City Council opposing the closing of the bridge during reconstruction. Chuluda said commuters choosing alternative routes to Portland if the bridge closed would impact existing single travel lane streets in Westbrook.

“You’re going to put traffic onto already overburdened Spring Street,” Chuluda said. “Keeping a lane open allows people a choice.”

Portland City Councilor Donna J. Carr also read a statement that favored closing the bridge. Portland feared keeping a lane open would jeopardize safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, construction workers and motorists.

Carr also worried that traffic slowed by construction would make it impossible for Portland residents to exit their driveways. “We feel it’s going to back up traffic significantly,” she said.

Gerard P. Conley Sr. of Portland, chairman of the Maine Turnpike Authority board, said he had concerns about safety if one traffic lane remained open during reconstruction. Keeping the bridge open would have extended reconstruction time.

“We’ve got to move and get it done,” Conley said about the project.

The executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority had announced previously he would seek to close the Stroudwater Street bridge for repairs – reversing an earlier commitment that one lane on the bridge would remain open.

That announcement from Authority Executive Director Paul Violette came two days after Westbrook city councilors argued in favor of keeping the bridge open to allow drivers to continue using the vital commuting artery.

Violette’s decision to close the bridge became final when it received the approval of the Authority’s board of directors at a meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, at Verrillo’s Convention Center in Portland.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said he was disappointed that the Authority chose to ignore Westbrook’s request to keep traffic moving over the bridge. “They made the right decision for the Maine Turnpike Authority and the wrong decision for Westbrook,” he said

Construction will begin later this year. The Authority originally estimated the work would take a year, but engineers have developed a condensed schedule that shaves three months off the original estimate.

At a meeting of the City Council’s Committee of the Whole last Monday night, Violette said the accelerated schedule would add $75,000 to the cost of the project. The extra money would go toward paying for contractor incentives, larger work crews and increased work on nights and weekends.

City Council President Jim Violette said he believed if the bridge were to be closed for any length of time, it would cause long-term problems on other streets in the city. “If you close a roadway for nine months, you’ve created habits for many drivers that won’t go back to Stroudwater Street because they’ve found a way to work that they are comfortable with,” he said.

In July, after hearing multiple complaints from Westbrook residents and at the city’s urging, the Authority decided to keep one lane of traffic on the bridge open during reconstruction. The Authority had favored a plan that would keep the entire bridge closed during construction. To keep one lane open would add $400,000 and at least six months to the construction time, going from a year to 18 months, according to Authority officials.

“We are convinced that maintaining a single lane of alternating traffic over the bridge while under construction would compromise the capacity of the bridge to such an extent that nearly as many drivers would divert to alternate routes as would do so if the bridge were closed altogether,” said Paul Violette.

Turnpike officials said they were also concerned about motorist safety if one lane of the bridge were open. They said, to control traffic flowing over the bridge, there would have to be signals at each end of the bridge. Because it takes some time for traffic going one way to cross the bridge, there would be times where both lights would have to be red. Since the lights would be at least 1,500 feet apart, officials said they were concerned that traffic on one end of the bridge would think the light was broken, and attempt to cross when there were cars coming the other way.

John Searles, who owns Town and Country Motors on Stroudwater Street, said he believed the signals would work just fine. “If the Maine Turnpike Authority were to control the lights properly, there would never be backed up traffic,” he said.

Shortly after making the decision to keep the bridge open, Paul Violette said he received a letter from the city of Portland asking that it be closed. Portland officials want the bridge closed because residents in the area were concerned if the bridge were to remain open, cars waiting to get across the one-lane bridge would snarl the traffic on the street. He said that letter led him to reconsider his earlier decision.

While Portland residents are concerned about traffic in the area, some residents and business owners on the Westbrook side of the bridge are just as passionate about keeping it open.

Searles said he doubted traffic concerns were the real reason the Authority is now looking at closing the bridge. “They’re all promoting (the option) to close the bridge because it will save the Turnpike money,” he said. “That’s what they are paid to do. I think it’s a sad thing where it’s costs over concern for people.”

Michelle Eugley of Austin Street, who said she travels across the bridge on a regular basis, said she felt the Turnpike was being unfair to Westbrook. “I feel this whole process has been terribly misleading,” she said, referring to the Authority’s reversal of its earlier decision.

At the meeting last week, Bryant proposed a compromise where the bridge would be open to traffic in one direction only in the morning and the opposite direction in the afternoon. He said this would allow at least two-thirds of the traffic traveling over the bridge to continue using it.

“There would be some logistical challenges,” said Bryant. “But it seems like this option would accommodate the most people the most efficiently.”

Councilor John O’Hara said, while the bridge was located in Portland, Westbrook would be affected more because many commuters pass through the city going to and from the communities to the west. He said to close the bridge would pose a hardship for drivers in Westbrook.

“It is not easy for our residents to see one of their major routes shut down,” he said. “We are a transportation hub and everything spokes out of us. Closing one of our main arteries won’t make it any easier.”

Councilor Violette said he didn’t think the city’s roads could accommodate the increased traffic. “By taking that bridge and closing it, you’re sending more cars onto two-lane roads in Westbrook that just can’t handle it,” he said.

The Stroudwater Street bridge spanning the Maine Turnpike has become a center of controversy. The Turnpike originally proposed closing the bridge for a year to rebuild the bridge. Westbrook officials have been pushing the Authority to keep the bridge open during construction, a plan that the Authority said would add time and money to the project.Standing in front of his Stroudwater Street business, Town and Country Motors owner John Searles said he is against the closure of the Stroudwater Street bridge. He said he thought the Turnpike was putting concerns over increased costs over the effect the closure would have on the people in the area.Town and Country Motors owner John Searles said he is against the closure of the Stroudwater Street bridge. He said he thought the Turnpike was putting cost concerns over the effect the closure would have on the people in the area.