MassHighway is considering closing Beach Road between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown for the next six months in order to replace the two bridges known commonly as Big Bridge and Little Bridge.

The news came as something of a surprise to Oak Bluffs and Edgartown officials, who knew about the planned bridge work but not about the plan to close the road.

Last month the Acton-based construction firm MIG Corporation filed a detour proposal with MassHighway, requesting that Beach Road along Joseph Sylvia State Beach be closed from the start of construction until Memorial Day.

Larry Gordon, area manager for MIG Corporation, told the Gazette this week that while the original plan called for replacing the two bridges in two phases over this winter and next winter, project planners saw an opportunity to complete all the work on the Little Bridge during 2008 and 2009, and asked to accelerate the timetable for the project.

The bridges are formally named VFW Memorial Bridge (the small bridge on the Oak Bluffs end of the road) and American Legion Memorial Bridge (the big bridge that sits on the Oak Bluffs-Edgartown town line).

Mr. Gordon said he originally asked MassHighway to shut down Beach Road from Sept. 1 until May 31, but he said due to delays, construction is now slated to begin Nov. 17.

“We felt we could finish all the work on the Little Bridge in one phase this winter. It’s an ambitious timetable but we think we can do it,” he said.

Work to complete the replacement of the Big Bridge is still planned for next winter. “But the impact on the roadway and traffic next [winter] would be greatly reduced,” Mr. Gordon said.

Information about the change in plans has been slow to reach Island officials. A letter sent to the Oak Bluffs and Edgartown selectmen last month states that a preconstruction conference is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. at the District 5 Administration Building in Taunton.

The letter, which was also sent to Cape and Islands Rep. Eric Turkington and the Dukes County commission, does not mention the closure of Beach Road. No preconstruction conference is planned on the Vineyard.

The proposal from MIG Corporation filed with MassHighway Oct. 1 provides two separate detour routes. One would divert westbound traffic coming out of Edgartown to the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road and then onto County Road into Oak Bluffs. The other route would divert eastbound traffic coming out of Oak Bluffs to Vanessa Way and then to Wing Road, County Road and Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.

The detour plan stipulates that Sea View avenue and Beach Road would remain open to emergency vehicles at all times, but it provides no further details.

Edgartown town administrator Pamela Dolby said yesterday the town received a copy of the proposed detour plan last month in a letter addressed to highway superintendent Stuart Fuller. “That’s a state road, and it’s my understanding they can close it without permission from [Edgartown and Oak Bluffs]. To this point there has been no communication with this office about the change,” she said.

Mrs. Dolby said the plan fails to address a wide range of issues that are likely to accompany the closure of Beach Road. Among other things she questioned how closing the road would affect shellfishing in Sengekontacket Pond and the town’s current dredging project that is moving sand from an area in the pond near the Big Bridge to the public beach at the Bend in the Road.

“We have many questions we need answered . . . it would be nice if we could get everyone in the same room to talk about this,” Mrs. Dolby said.

County manager Russell Smith said he shared many of the same concerns and expressed hope that officials from MassHighway could travel to the Island for a meeting before construction begins. Mr. Smith said he placed a phone call to both Mr. Gordon and Tom McGuire, an environmental engineer for MassHighway, asking that such a meeting take place.

“Closing that road would seem to create a wide range of hardships. It would seem appropriate for [MassHighway] to come here and talk about this with us. We want everyone who needs to be there to have a chance to attend,” he said.

MassHighway spokesman Adam Hurtubise told the Gazette this week that the closure of Beach Road is not a done deal. He said the contractor did file papers requesting the change in plans, but said there is no language in the contract authorizing a detour or closure of the road.

And he said MassHighway would not agree to close Beach Road without approval from the Edgartown and Oak Bluffs selectmen. “We would need to consult with the two towns before we gave the okay for that sort of change,” he said.

Mr. Hurtubise said he was unaware of any preconstruction meetings scheduled to take place on the Vineyard; he declined to speculate if officials would be inclined to hold such a meeting.

The proposal from MIG Corporation also includes a bus detour plan that would redirect the Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority’s number 13 bus route. The new route calls for the bus to begin in Vineyard Haven and travel though Oak Bluffs to the end of Sea View avenue in Harthaven and then turn around and head back toward Vineyard Haven.

The plan recommends that riders who need to continue onto Edgartown then switch over to bus route number one, which travels from Vineyard Haven to Edgartown.

Angela Grant, Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority administrator, said changing the bus route would require additional busses and add to the transit authority’s operating budget.

“I understand why they would want to get as much work done as fast as possible. But closing that road creates a number of problems. We would have to double the number of busses on that route just to keep up,” she said.

Alice Butler, chairman of the transit authority board of directors, agreed.

“It seems like they have never been here. I don’t think they understand how things work on the Vineyard,” Ms. Butler said.