The Arrigoni Bridge across the Connecticut River between Portland and Middletown is beautiful and a sight for sore eyes when heading home. Too small for the commuter traffic it now has to bear seventy-three years after it was built? Probably, but it's the only bridge we've got and I love it.
It is currently undergoing a massive update to make it safer for years to come and so traffic has been reduced to two lanes for the foreseeable future. When this project was announced you could hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth all up and down the Connecticut River valley. I was not one of the wailers for two reasons: 1) The repairs need to be done and a little inconvenience is worth not being at the wheel of the car that could have fallen through the deck to the river below and 2) I assumed that the forced reduced speed on the bridge would lead to fewer accidents on the bridge which hold up traffic for hours on end.
I travel the bridge every morning at approximately 7:00am and since this project began several month ago I have not encountered anything but minimal delays. I know there have been one or two fender benders, at least one of which was caused by someone following too closely, but all in all things have been running smoothly. As Main Street in Portland narrows from two lanes to one at the entrance to the bridge traffic merges fairly seamlessly. Everyone knows the deal and acts accordingly. Most of the time.
This morning as we headed to the bridge, alternating cars moved into the single lane until it came to me. The woman in the Chevy with CT plate 189 WMG apparently felt there was some major advantage to be gained by cutting me off when it was clearly my turn to enter the single lane. Despite the nose of my car being ahead of hers, I backed off and let her cut me off. Obviously where she had to be was MUCH more important than where I had to be. As I crossed the bridge directly behind her I had time to ponder just what she had to gain by her action. Turns out it was easy to figure it out. She turned off the bridge onto Spring Street in Middletown exactly TWO SECONDS ahead on me. I hope she uses those two seconds wisely.
It is also worth noting that she had two stickers on the back of her car which indicate she has school age kids in sports programs. I hope she doesn't take it upon herself to teach them to drive... or anything else for that matter. Rudeness is not a family value.
