NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Just last January, the City of New Haven re-opened the Grand Ave Swing Bridge after two years of repairs. But for the second time this month, the bridge is facing a long-term closure because of another problem with the bridge.
Since its closure on Wednesday, local businesses in the area are seeing a dip in customers.
"In those two days, I did about 1/3 of my normal business. And this time, it's been about 50% of what I normally do," said Ben Tortora, Owner of Grand Vin Fine Wine in Fair Haven.
Prior to the bridge closures, Tortora's business was doing well.
"I've been here 20 years because I've been successful for 20 years. Even though there are things trying to stop me from being successful," Tortora said.
One of those things is the Swing Bridge. It's the main artery connecting Fair Haven to Fair Haven Heights. It swings open for boats to pass and when the bridge is back, cars, walkers, and bikers can go through. When it's closed, Tortora is impacted.
"Immediately, I'm affected by no-through traffic. No vehicles are coming this way, for any reason," Tortora said.
Just this month, that has happened two times in three weeks.
This time, city leaders say a gear, about the size of a basketball that locks the bridge in place, broke. They said it was "operational issues" that lead to the "failure of the gear," but that it had nothing to do with the recent repairs.
"This could take some time to fix. We're asking for folks' patience, and as you can imagine, I too am frustrated because this is the second time this has happened in the last few weeks," said Mayor Justin Elicker with the City of New Haven.
Which, Tortora understands. However, he wants more communication from the city. He said when the bridge broke down on Wednesday morning, it was a free-for-all for a few hours before barriers were put up. He said he witnesses two crashes in front of his store.
"You immediately put up signs saying the bridge is closed. But also, on that sign it should say retail store open," Tortora said.
The city did send out an alert through New Haven Alerts to the surrounding neighborhood, warning that the closure was happening. But Tortora said many of his customers come from outside of Fair Haven, and they don't get the message.
"I don't have the answer. I don't know. But nobody's walked in my store to discuss it," Tortora said.
The city's engineer said they're working on a temporary fix to open the bridge. He said to expect an update on that early next week. In the meantime, they still don't have a timeline for when the part will be replaced, and when the bridge will open back up to cars for good.
---
Have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
----
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.