N. Stonington bridge wiped out by '10 storm reopened

NORTH STONINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) -- A North Stonington bridge finally reopened after a storm wiped it out in 2010.

It opened without fanfare but that doesn't mean folks weren't celebrating.

"I was going out to dinner and I said oh my god I can drive across the road and so I did," Jonathan Edwards of Jonathan Edwards Winery said. "And then there was nobody here so I drove backwards then I drove forwards again and I turned around and it was just like skipping and hollering and hooting."

Cheers from the owner of Jonathan Edwards Winery just up the road from North Stonington village, which was completely under water in March 2010.

Water washed out the Watermark Cafe and the historic bridge. The new one will have a stone facade and one arch instead of two.

"It used to have the capacity of about an 80 year storm. Now it has approximately a 200 year storm so it's about two and a half times the capability," Nick Mullane, the First Selectman of North Stonington said.

And that spells relief for the first selectman.

"Fire company had to drive around. It was about 5 minutes longer, even though it's only a few hundred feet so it's a great relief," Mullane said.

"It's not fun to have a wonderful town like this cut in half. It's just tough so it feels so good," Edwards said.

This devastating flood is now behind them.

The Watermark Cafe is missing. It was attached to a red building and was removed a long time ago. There is no word if they'll ever rebuild.

One landmark gone, another back in business.

"That's a big surprise. A very nice surprise," Rosemary Smith of North Stonington said.