Bridge Turns Democracy Green

Don’t look now — but a 121-year-old bridge is changing color. By popular vote.

Painters began apply the green sheen to the under-renovation Grand Avenue Bridge this week, as a result of a neighborhood ​“ranked-choice” popular vote about what color the rebuilt bridge should be.

The rotting bridge has been undergoing much-needed repairs since mid-April. The bridge has been closed to traffic and rotated in an open position, in parallel with the Quinnipiac River, during construction. Among the expected repairs are replacing the abutments connecting the bridge to land, which are currently over a century old, and a review of the electrical system powering the bridge. The job is expected to take 18 months.

For Austin Idachaba, Quinnipiac River Park by the bridge stirs memories of his childhood in Fair Haven. Idachaba and his grandmother had a summer tradition of walking to a black bench by the river to feed the swans. He comes to the park often, especially since the pandemic, nostalgic for moments like those.

The bridge’s new color makes the park feels different, Idachaba said. He said he likes the green better than the bridge’s former black exterior. He just hopes the city fixes the infamous bump in the road where the bridge meets the ground.

The bridge’s paint isn’t just a cosmetic decision. City Engineer Giovanni Zinn attributed several of the bridge’s mechanical problems, including the notorious bump, to its former black paint. The bridge’s previous coat of black paint was more heat-absorbent than other paint colors,so its materials tended to expand in size to a detrimental degree in the hot summer months. In some instances, the bridge grew so hot that the New Haven Fire Department had to hose it with cold water.

In order to determine the new color for the bridge, Zinn worked with Patricia Kane, who resides in Quinnipiac Heights just across from the bridge, to institute a ranked-choice voting system in which any New Haven resident could cast ballots ranking potential colors at a restaurant on either side of the bridge. Residents could voice preferences for green, terra cotta, yellow, buff, teal, and gray paint. In early April, the ballots were tabulated in multiple rounds, eliminating colors with every round. Green narrowly won the vote, with teal coming in second place.

Kane wrote in an email that while she misses the bridge’s former black color, ​“I am on board with the idea that the current generation gets a fresh look. What really matters is that the color reflects the choice of the neighborhood.”

Fair Haven resident Chris Ozyck, who had campaigned for the color green, stated that he was thrilled with how the bridge was turning out. ​“So much less harsh than black,” he said of the new paint. ​“The bridge feels lighter and is more harmonious with the red sandstone foundation, blue skies, and water.”

“We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback,” said Zinn. ​“People have taken to the color.”

In Quinnipiac River Park on Monday, as the paint job progressed, none of the people strolling by had heard of the voting process. Most expressed indifference to the bridge’s new color. Some, though, sought meaning from the aesthetics of the infrastructure.

One couple — Danny Curtis and Aisha — said they aren’t fans of the new paint job.

“It doesn’t represent anything,” Curtis said. He would have rather seen the bridge get painted white. ​“White represents crossing over,” he explained, alluding to associations of the color white with a metaphorical bridge to the afterlife.

Aisha suggested that red or blue would have been a better color.

“We’ve got a lot of green,” said Curtis, gesturing at the grassy park and at the trees across the river.

Idachaba offered a different take: He likes that the bridge now echoes the greenery of the park, since it fits in better.

Idachaba noted that the color evokes New Haven’s ​“Elm City” moniker as well as the Town Green downtown. ​“It represents New Haven,” he said.

Allan Appel contributed reporting.