On September 13 the storm damaged the Jesup Road Bridge near Imperial Avenue badly enough that the Town closed it. Jesup Road has been a dead end ever since. Over the next six weeks the closed-off block has a new all-day bakery in the former Basso space, a full library calendar running into the holidays, and a bridge removal on the Town's schedule. All of it is reached from the Post Road side of downtown. Once the far end closed, the Post Road end became the only way in.
The block that lost its far end
The bridge sits at the Imperial Avenue end of Jesup Road. Before the storm, Jesup was a through route. Now it is a street you drive into and back out of. The Westport Journal covered the October 28 Board of Selectmen discussion, where Second Selectwoman Amy Wistreich suggested sending drivers to park on Jesup Road "since the bridge closure made that a dead-end."
The selectmen left downtown traffic patterns as they are. In the same Westport Journal report, operations director Tom Kiely called the closure's effect on downtown circulation "relatively limited." He said drivers "have generally been able to utilize alternative routes." Public Works director Larry Roberts said, "I think the status quo right now is working."
The timeline is long, and that is why the dead end is worth planning around. The Town's infrastructure page schedules removal of the damaged bridge for the end of November 2026. That work includes temporary hardening of the abutments, and the completion date for a new bridge is still to be determined. Roberts told the board the replacement will be wider so Deadman Brook can pass under it more easily. That means a longer permitting process and a different state reimbursement pool. For comparison, he pointed to the Greens Farms bridge over Sasco Creek, where funding approval took five and a half years. Everything below is happening on a street that will stay a cul-de-sac for the foreseeable future.
33 Jesup Road gets its morning back
The most noticeable change on the block is at 33 Jesup Road. Basso closed there in December after 19 years. The Westport Journal reported that chef Bill Taibe's new restaurant would take over the space, which also carries a 76 Post Road East address. That second address matters right now. This is a building that faces both the dead-end street and the Post Road.
hi'Amba opened on October 14. CT Bites describes it as an all-day bakery, café and restaurant built around a working bakery. Its cooking draws on the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and Southwest Asia. The morning menu has Jerusalem bagels, pita straight from the oven, man'oushe, lacquered pastries and shakshuka. Coffee is from Ilse Coffee. Later in the day Taibe describes big sandwiches, salads and "a really big 'dip' program," with swordfish shawarma and lamb kebab among the sandwiches. The executive chef is Karen Nicolas, a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2012. Pastry is led by Michael Finehirsh, whose résumé includes Daniel and the original Bouley.
Plan around the hours. hi'Amba's own site lists Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday, with "Dinner coming soon." For now it is a breakfast and lunch place. You can order ahead and pick up at the counter, and the space can be booked for private dinners and parties. A retail pantry with olive oil, amba and merchandise is listed as coming soon. 06880 reported the room packed during the soft opening on October 9.
The library carries the evenings
When hi'Amba closes at 3, the Westport Library at 20 Jesup Road picks up the rest of the day. Its calendar from now through mid-December gives the dead-end block a steady evening schedule.
| Date | At the Library | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, November 12 | 2026 Westport Prize for Literature ceremony | Patmeena Sabit, Good People; 7 to 9 p.m.; free with ticket |
| Saturday, November 14 | Supper & Soul, Grateful Dead edition | With the Westport-Weston Chamber; Spadtastics in the Trefz Forum; 7 to 10:30 p.m.; $35 |
| Thursday, November 19 | PITCH 2026 | StartUp Westport's competition; three founders, $30,000; 6:30 to 9 p.m. |
| Saturday, November 21 | Train Room Re-Opening | Higgins Room, drop in 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Sunday, November 22 | Pieces of Silver | JazzFC tribute to Norwalk-raised pianist Horace Silver; 2 p.m.; free |
| Tuesday, December 1 | Evan Thomas and Oscie Thomas | The Hour Strikes; 7 p.m.; free |
| Saturday, December 12 | The LeeVees family concert | 7 to 9 p.m. |
| Tuesday, December 15 | Conversation with Keith McNally | 7 p.m. |
The Train Room date is the one families will plan around. The library's event page says children of all ages and their caregivers can stop in anytime that Saturday to read, relax and use the train set in the Higgins Room. The room first ran daily from May 9 through June 24 this year, so November 21 is its first return since early summer.
Thanksgiving week changes the library's hours. It closes at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25, stays closed on Thanksgiving Day, and opens 1 to 5 p.m. on Friday, November 27.
Levitt Pavilion is quiet for the season. Its calendar has nothing listed for November, and the pavilion describes its free programming as a summer series. For the next six weeks the block's activity is split between the bakery in the morning and the library at night.
Bay Street and Taylor Place do the connecting
With the Imperial Avenue end closed, two short streets connect the block to the rest of downtown. 06880 describes Taylor Place as the link between the lower Library lot at the foot of Jesup Green and the Post Road, and Bay Street as the link between Post Road East and Jesup Road. Both are one-way. At the October 28 meeting, Police Chief David Farrell said reversing either one "invites safety issues at the expense of convenience," according to the Westport Journal.
The same discussion named two Bay Street-area businesses. The Westport Journal reported that customers of The Toy Post on Post Road East and The Cake Box on Bay Street usually park in the lot off Bay Street. Ideas on the table included taking some of the 12 parking spaces off Bay Street to widen it, and possibly renting spaces from the nearby Bank of America. Officials also raised concerns about drivers cutting through the privately owned Mancini lot, and police said they could speak with its owners about signs. In practice, a morning at hi'Amba or an evening at the library now starts on the Post Road, and the Toy Post and Cake Box corner sits on the way in.
December comes in from the Post Road
The block's December plans lead back toward the Post Road side, and the bridge work lines up with them. If the Town keeps its end-of-November schedule, the damaged bridge will be coming out just before the holiday dates.
- Thursday, December 3, 5 p.m. The tree lighting at Westport Town Hall, according to the Town's community calendar.
- Saturday, December 5, 4 to 7 p.m. The Westport Downtown Association Holiday Stroll downtown. That morning at 10:30 the library hosts Reading and Rhythm with Orchestra Lumos and Music Together, and hi'Amba's regular Saturday hours run until 3.
- Saturday, December 12, and Tuesday, December 15. The LeeVees and Keith McNally at the library close out the stretch.
For more on what else has changed downtown since summer, our late-summer Westport guide and the Westport neighborhood page pick up the rest of the map.
If you'd like to talk about how changes like this shape the way a Westport home lives day to day, Kathleen Usherwood is glad to compare notes over a hi'Amba coffee. Let's Connect.
