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ATTLEBORO - A state official is standing behind a decision to move ahead with a bridge project on lower County Street that isolates businesses from customers, arguing there are no feasible alternatives.

The position was taken in a letter to state Rep. John Lepper, R-Attleboro, who pushed state transportation officials for details on the decision that cuts off a cluster of automotive shops from drive-by customers by closing the Amtrak railroad bridge near Capt. Courtois Drive for reconstruction.

And based on the information he received, Lepper, who called the predicament "very unfortunate," said he doesn't see any way out of the situation for the shops, which are losing money and could go out of business.

"It's a tough situation, but the alternatives will make the project longer, and even more inconvenient," Lepper said. "It's very unfortunate that some people are taking the brunt of progress being made."

Lepper pushed for explanations from the state's Executive Office of Transportation after being contacted by at least two business owners. Transportation Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky said in a letter to Lepper that concerns about the businesses prompted a review of a request to keep one lane open and other alternatives, but in the end officials decided they had to stick with the plan in hand.

Keeping one lane open by demolishing the stone-abutment bridge in stages is very difficult and might not be possible at all, she said.

Other officials have said the span could become unsafe for one lane if that method were used.

"After reviewing various options, we are confident that the construction plan currently in place is the best way to move forward," Paiewonsky said, noting time and money would be lost with changes. "Please be assured that every effort will be made to expedite this project and minimize its impacts."

The job is the second part of a two-bridge, $6.6 million project begun about a year ago.

Businesses, which are now located on dead ends because of the span closures, have been losing money ever since - and with at least two years of construction ahead, there's little relief in sight.

The first bridge over the Seven Mile River was finished last month.

State officials have authorized seven-day work weeks to speed up construction of the bridge over the railroad tracks and have promised to open one lane when the bridge is 80 percent complete.

Lepper is the third local official to come to the conclusion that the current plan is the only feasible option.

Earlier, both Mayor Kevin Dumas and City Councilor Walter Thibodeau, chairman of the transportation and traffic committee, said they could see no way out of the dilemma as it stands now. Lepper made his request to Executive Office of Transportation prior to the publication of a story in The Sun Chronicle last week about two businesses that were given tax abatements because they are losing so much money. One, Pinecrest Motors, expects to go out of business.

Other alternatives, such as the construction of a temporary road or a detour through a shopping center have negative impacts of their own, Lepper said.

John Case, who owns a gravel pit next to the bridge, offered to build the temporary road looping through his property and the property of Sterry Street Towing, but officials rejected it, saying an at-grade rail crossing on the high-speed line between Boston and New York is too dangerous.

A detour from Newport Avenue through the Bristol Place shopping center into the Capt. Courtois Drive area was also rejected because it would run through densely populated neighborhoods over narrow streets.

GEORGE W. RHODES can be reached at 508-236-0432 or at grhodes@thesunchronicle.com.