The West Main Street Bridge, also known as the “Purple Bridge,” was built in 1888 and closed to cars in 2002. Over the ensuing two decades, it has sat, largely unused and deteriorating, as a debate has raged over whether to reopen the bridge for cars to better link the West Side and downtown, as a pedestrian-only walkway, or as some combination of the two. A prefabricated bridge, open only to pedestrian traffic, was installed next to the original bridge in 2023 for $1.6 million, after the city determined that the structure was unsafe. In April, the Board of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a nonbinding resolution, encouraging the city to pursue a $6.7 million plan, pitched by Meriden-based engineering firm BL Companies, that would rehabilitate, rather than replace, the bridge, and open it up to both cars and pedestrians. Quinones said the bridge would likely be taken down in the spring of 2026, and that the removal of the bridge would be funded by a nearly $2 million state grant that was already in hand, though he did not have more details about the grant.
After nearly 140 years, Stamford’s West Main Street Bridge is set to come down. What’s next?
