Mystic Drawbridge Schedule: Proposed Winter Changes and Evening Debate

The Mystic River Bascule Bridge currently works on two calendars. From May 1 through October 31, the draw opens hourly at twenty minutes before the hour between 7:40 a.m. and 6:40 p.m. From November 1 through April 30, nighttime openings between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. require six hours' notice, given by calling the number posted at the bridge. Under the current rules, that switch comes again in less than three weeks.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation has asked the Coast Guard to retire the winter calendar. The Coast Guard published the proposal in the Federal Register on September 17, 2026, under docket USCG-2026-0962, with comments due by October 19, 2026. The local reactions so far mostly agree about boaters. The disagreement is about what Route 1 through downtown Mystic feels like at 7 p.m. in January.

What November 1 Has Meant, and What Would Change

According to The Day, CTDOT spokesperson Eva Zymaris explained that a full-time bridge tender is assigned to the Mystic Drawbridge during the season, and no tender is assigned in the off-season, so there are no regularly scheduled winter openings. In winter the bridge opens "on signal" during the day, and night requests need six hours' notice.

Under the proposal, the summer pattern becomes the pattern for all twelve months, and CTDOT would keep bridge attendants on duty continuously.

Daytime lifts depend on demand. Greg Hitchen, bridge program manager for the Northeast Coast Guard District, told The Day that during the season the bridge opens at twenty minutes to the hour if boats are waiting. An empty river at 10:40 a.m. on a February Tuesday means no lift. The bigger change is in the evening row. A boat that once had to call six hours ahead could simply signal.

The Mystic span is one of three state bridges in the request. The Route 156 bridge over the Niantic River is another. Hitchen told The Day that boating season now starts earlier and runs later, because the weather turns nicer earlier in the year. Under the current calendar, a boat coming up the river in early November meets a winter rulebook.

The Six-Hour Rule Has Few Defenders. Evening Lifts Are the Open Question

The local voices The Day reached all agreed on the first point. Groton Town Manager John Burt called the six-hour notice rule excessive and said he was fine with the daytime change, since the bridge would open at twenty minutes to the hour only when there is a queue. Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce President Bruce Flax said removing the six-hour requirement is reasonable, so boaters don't need to call so far ahead.

They part ways on the second point. Burt said his only hesitation was evenings, and he would like to see a limit of one opening per hour during evening hours, because Mystic is still active then. Flax said off-season openings at twenty minutes to the hour, as needed, are reasonable, but he thinks a regular hourly lift could be disruptive to downtown.

The proposed text has no evening cap. After 6:40 p.m., the draw "shall open on signal." Today the six-hour notice limits winter night openings by itself. With that requirement gone and nothing put in its place, an off-season evening could in principle see more than one lift in an hour. Burt's suggested limit is aimed at that case.

Mystic Seaport Museum, which sits upriver of the span, has taken a middle position. Sophia Matsas, the museum's vice president of marketing and communications, gave The Day this statement:

"The existing winter model has been sufficient for the Museum, but the proposed change will make it easier for boaters to transit, so we are not opposed to the change."

In its analysis, the Coast Guard says the change improves the bridge's ability to open on signal for commercial and recreational vessels and reduces potential delays near the bridge. Those vessels include fishing boats. Clearance is a constraint, too. The span has 4.15 feet of vertical clearance at mean high water and about 75 feet of horizontal clearance.

August Showed What a Limited Schedule Costs

CTDOT filed its request on July 10, 2026, which was before the bridge's rough August. The weeks that followed still offer the best recent example of how much the river and the road rely on a dependable lift schedule.

1. August 19, 2026. The Day reported that the bridge stuck in the upright position, police closed Route 1, and downtown traffic backed up before the span returned to service that evening. The Day also reported that the span had not been opening evenly.
2. The river side, over those two days. In the same report, Mystic Seaport Museum's Shannon McKenzie said some scheduled vessels could not move, and the museum canceled its Sabino river cruises for that Wednesday. The Kalmar Nyckel, due at the Seaport shipyard for repairs, waited south of the bridge. Captain Lauren Morgens warned that the combined timing of the bridge and the tide could delay the ship significantly.
3. August 20, 2026. CTDOT announced a modified schedule with marine openings only at 7:40 a.m., 11:40 a.m., 2:40 p.m. and 6:40 p.m., to support repairs to the bridge's mechanical and electrical systems. The agency said the schedule would last "until repairs can be completed."
4. August 25, 2026. Patch reported that the Town of Stonington described the change as temporary, made "due to ongoing mechanical issues," and expected it to stay in place until September 4.

The two notices don't fully line up. CTDOT's advisory gives no end date, and the town named one. We could not find a later public notice confirming that the repairs were finished or that the four-a-day schedule had ended. For several weeks this summer, the bridge ran on four planned lifts a day in place of up to twelve, which is the reverse of what the year-round proposal would do.

A 1922 Machine With a Longer Workday

The bridge that would take on year-round staffing opened to the public on July 19, 1922. According to The Day's history of the span, it is an example of Thomas E. Brown's patented Brown Balance Beam bascule design. Its overhead beams carry two 230-ton concrete counterweights, and the beams descend 69 degrees to lift the 85-foot draw fully vertical. Waddell & Son was the consulting engineer, Brown was the advisory engineer, J.E. Fitzgerald Construction Co. was the general contractor, and American Bridge Co. fabricated the steel superstructure.

Machinery that old needs regular attention, and the work has often been planned. CTDOT scheduled a full overnight vehicle closure for routine repairs in February 2024. In July 2024, structural work kept the travel lanes open but closed the bridge to marine traffic for the work period. Not all of it has been planned. In 2013, The Day reported a closure of more than three hours after the limit switches that signal span alignment malfunctioned.

A larger project is also on the books. CTDOT's rehabilitation project page says the goal is to preserve the bridge and extend its useful life, at an estimated cost of about $1.5 million, with construction anticipated in spring 2026. The page has not been updated with a start date or progress report, and the most recent public meeting it lists is a virtual session from July 29, 2024. Whether that work has started, or might overlap with the first winter of staffed operation, is not yet public.

The Next Few Weeks on Both Sides of the Span

Several dates on the river and in town fall close together:

• Through October 18: Sabino cruises run daily from Mystic Seaport Museum.
• October 19: The Coast Guard's comment period on docket USCG-2026-0962 closes.
• October 31: The last day of the bridge's seasonal hourly schedule under the current rule.
• November 1: The current winter rules begin, and the Seaport's daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule ends.
• November 2 to 30: The Seaport moves to Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is closed November 26.

A Federal Register notice of proposed rulemaking is not a final rule, and the Coast Guard has not said when it will decide. Until a final rule is issued, the current two-calendar system remains the one in force. Any limit on evening openings would have to come out of the comment record before a final rule is issued. The full proposal and the comment docket are posted on the Federal Register.

How the bridge runs is part of daily life downtown, and it is the kind of local detail we follow for our clients. If you own near the bridge and want to know what your home would sell for this winter, Donna Sormanti-Saglio and the Donna Dean Team can walk you through it. Get Your Free Home Valuation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.