Carpino Joins Locals in Restating Concerns Over Arrigoni Rehab

PORTLAND — State Rep. State Rep. Christie Carpino joined state and local officials here today to restate their concerns about how the Arrigoni Bridge project will affect the town’s business community as well as first responders. Carpino joined state Sen. Eileen Daily and Portland First Selectman Susan Bransfield near the bridge for a news conference this afternoon, when they were flanked by a representative from the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, the owner of a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts and a local police officer. The project is an overhaul of the bridge deck. The bridge is four lanes and DOT engineers said the repairs will see workers close two of them—reducing traffic to one lane in each direction. The project kicks off Tuesday and will continue into November of next year. Locals worry those lane closures will snarl traffic and have a negative effect on businesses in the area. Carpino has participated in several meetings with civic and public safety leaders as well as those from the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, which touched on subjects such as getting ambulances from Middletown to Portland and the back over the bridge to Middlesex Hospital. Standing before a bank of television cameras, folks at the news conference today recounted many of the issues discussed at those sessions, including commuter traffic and the need for proper signage. On the subject of public safety, Carpino, for one, described LifeStar landing zones that could be used if necessary. Middlesex Hospital will post an EMT on the Portland side of the river and police officers from Middletown and Portland will be stationed strategically on either side of the bridge. Carpino credited business owners and local public safety leaders for taking a proactive role throughout the process so far and explained that she’ll continue to monitor the project’s progress throughout the roughly year-and-a-half timeline.