The estimated date for re-opening Portsmouth's Escape Bridge is now late August, according to RIDOT's Chief of Information and Public Relations, Charles E. St. Martin III. In an e-mail exchange today, St. Martin blamed the slippage on unexpected decay in the structure, which serves as an evacuation route from the coastal area of Island Park.

"During work on this project, we encountered more deterioration that was difficult to ascertain before demolition," said St. Martin. "The additional concrete repairs are needed to ensure the successful repair of the bridge and to assure its longevity."

When asked why this delay had not been included in the most recent "community update" from RIDOT, St. Martin said only, "We will look into incorporating this type of information."

I had heard about this from a resident who spoke to RIDOT Director Michael Lewis by phone last Thursday. Pressed on why Lewis had privately communicated the date to a resident last week, St. Martin said, "Director Lewis was responding to a direct inquiry."

So here's the picture, fellow citizens of Portsmouth. If you can get Director Lewis to take your calls, you can find out what's going on. If not, you'll have to live with the less-than-useful information they've been handing out — and which I've been running — in their updates.

Does anybody else find this unacceptable?

How about their promise to try to accelerate the schedule. St. Martin said,"We will work with the contractor to accelerate the remaining work to see if it can be reopened prior to late August. We also will work with the community regarding any evacuations that might be needed due to tropical storms that might impact our area."

If you're worried, you might be comforted by St. Martin's observations about about our modern world. "Please keep in mind that weather forecasting is far more sophisticated now than it was in 1961 when the bridge was built, with much more advance notice given to coastal residents when storm surges are possible."

I guess Mr. St. Martin is unaware of how totally effed up Portsmouth's response was to the storm surge for Irene.

Full disclosure: I live in the evacuation zone of Island Park.