JAMAICA — The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) on Tuesday announced plans to open temporary bridges on Routes 30 and 100 by Oct. 15.
These temporary bridges will remain in place throughout the winter and until permanent bridges can be built. They will provide the public access over brooks and rivers where Tropical Storm Irene damaged permanent structures, rendering them unusable for public travel.
“Erecting these temporary bridges will eliminate more than half of the storm-related road closures remaining along Vermont's state highway system,” said VTrans Secretary Brian Searles.
Tropical Storm Irene closed 34 bridges along Vermont's state highway system. The AOT has reopened 25 (73 percent) of these bridges. Two of these “closed” bridges, however, are open to local traffic and emergency vehicles.
Of the nine bridges around the state that remain closed to full public travel, seven require temporary bridges and will be reopened by the end of October or sooner, according to the AOT.
The two bridges in Jamaica are the last bottlenecks in Windham County's transportation system.
Routes 9, 11, 112, and 121 all are open end to end, although with speed and travel restrictions due to ongoing reconstruction and repairs. Routes 30 and 100 are both open, except for the Jamaica detours.