Editor's note: This letter, sent to the Westport Select Board, Eversource and other parties last week, was shared with the Westport Shorelines by its authors.

We write on behalf of Buzzards Bay Brewing, Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery, ParadiseHill Farm, and Pine Hill Convenience regarding the ongoing Eversource construction project on Hix Bridge Road.

When this project was presented to the Select Board on April 6, Eversource described the impacts as “short-term and localized” and represented that one lane of traffic would remain open at all times. The select board’s approval further required that continuous access be maintained for businesses, residents, side streets, and intersecting roadways.

The reality experienced by our businesses and customers has been starkly different. Since June 1, road closures, detours, conflicting signage, and traffic restrictions have disrupted access to the point that customers routinely turn around, abandon planned visits, or conclude that our businesses are inaccessible. Some motorists have become so confused by the road closures that they have driven deep into private agricultural property seeking routes around the construction zone. This is not normal traffic inconvenience. It is a breakdown of access.

The consequences have been severe. Based on sales records and year-over-year comparisons, our businesses estimate that losses have exceeded $100,000 since the project began affecting customer access in May, with those losses increasing each week.

These are not theoretical losses. They are lost customers, lost sales, lost wages, and lost opportunities during the brief summer season upon which our businesses depend.

Unlike many businesses, we cannot simply recover these losses later in the year. We operate in a seasonal coastal economy. The summer weeks now being disrupted are the very weeks that sustain our farms, winery, brewery, convenience store, and employees through the long off-season. Once these weeks are gone, they are gone permanently.

What makes these losses especially frustrating is that they are not the result of an unforeseen emergency. This is a planned infrastructure project. The decision to undertake it during the height of the summer season has shifted a significant portion of the project’s cost onto local businesses, their employees, and their families. Conducting this work after Labor Day would dramatically reduce the economic harm while still allowing the project to proceed.

We do not oppose infrastructure improvements. We do, however, object to a situation in which the practical effect of the project bears little resemblance to what was represented during the approval process. Access that exists only in theory is not meaningful access. A customer who must navigate confusing detours, road closures, and lengthy reroutes is often a customer who simply goes elsewhere.

At a minimum, the project should not continue during the height of Westport’s summer season while local businesses absorb the economic damage. Accordingly, we respectfully but urgently request that all construction activities requiring road closures, detours, or significant traffic restrictions on Hix Bridge Road be suspended immediately and resumed after Labor Day.

Westport should not be forced to choose between critical infrastructure improvements and the survival of local businesses. We remain willing to meet immediately with Town officials and Eversource representatives to find a solution. However, the status quo is unacceptable and cannot continue through the remainder of the summer.

William Russell

Buzzards Bay Brewing

Shirley D'Agostino-Robbins

Paradise Hill Farm

Jeff Dias

Pine Hill Convenience

Robert Russell

Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery