BRATTLEBORO — With the passing of two agenda items at the Sept. 18 regular Selectboard meeting, the replacement of the Hinsdale Bridge - a project over 40 years in the making - inches ever closer.
The bridge - which consists of two bridges, separated by an island - that connects Brattleboro to Hinsdale was identified as having serious deficiencies by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) in 1977.
Since then, every few years the project seems to build up steam again, with meetings and studies and reports. And then something hinders the progress. And still the bridges remain.
The bridges and the area around them have multiple levels of complexity. They connect two states across a body of water, include a railroad grade crossing and a hazardous waste site and, on the Vermont side, they dump traffic onto one of the least-loved intersections in Brattleboro.
Because of the boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont, the majority of the Hinsdale Bridge will belong to the former - only 17 percent of the proposed span rests in Vermont.
Early last year, representatives from the NHDOT, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the Windham Regional Commission, the New Hampshire and Vermont legislatures, the Brattleboro and Hinsdale municipal offices, and other stakeholders picked up the project again.
By mid 2017, the project was in the design phase and included a full replacement of the two bridges with one span, located about 1,000 feet south of the current bridges' location.
This will bring the new bridge away from the intersection locals refer to as “Malfunction Junction,” where Routes 5, 119, and 142 meet - along with the entrance to the Brattleboro Food Co-op - in a disjointed tangle of blind spots, changes in roadway grade, a railroad grade crossing, and harried pedestrians.
Since then, there hasn't been much discussion about the Hinsdale Bridge, at least at Brattleboro Selectboard meetings.
But at the Sept. 18 regular Board meeting, two agenda items were presented for Board approval related to the bridge replacement.
The first involved the water main running beneath Vernon Road, a.k.a. Route 142. To allow for the bridge's construction, the water main must move, and the state will reimburse the town for the $700,000 cost.
Department of Public Works Director Steve Barrett asked the Brattleboro Selectboard to authorize an agreement between the town and the AOT to cover this project.
Barrett said this would be a good time to improve the water main by expanding it from an 8-inch pipe to a 12-inch pipe to allow for future development. “Who knows what's going to be on Vernon Road in 100 years?” he asked.
The estimated cost to the town of replacing the main with a bigger version is $50,000, and Barrett asked the Board to approve paying for this from the Utilities Fund.
Barrett and Town Manager Peter B. Elwell agreed the best time to make this improvement is when the relocation happens so the town doesn't have to tear the road up twice - and when the state is footing part of the bill.
This is “a cost-effective way to get that new 12-inch pipe in the ground” without having to pay for the entire expense, Elwell said.
The other bridge-related agenda item at the Sept. 18 Board meeting covers the finance and maintenance agreement between the AOT and the town.
Elwell said this is standard when the AOT has a state project in a town, such as installing signs or building a new bridge, and the agreement covers which party is responsible for funding and upkeep.
Under the terms of the agreement, the federal government is kicking in 80 percent of the project's costs, and the state will cover the remaining 20 percent.
The respective state transportation agencies will provide traffic control and select and maintain detours and the associated signage during the construction phase. If there are any winter work suspensions, the town must provide snow removal.
Once the project is complete, Brattleboro is responsible for routine maintenance on Vermont's 17 percent of the bridge, the agreement says, and this includes things like spot patching of the roadway, traffic control devices, curbs, sidewalks, drainage, street lights, and snow removal.
The Selectboard voted to approve both items - for the water main relocation and replacement, and for the finance and maintenance agreement - in a 3-0 vote. Chair Kate O'Connor and Vice-Chair Brandie Starr were absent.
“It's exciting that we're talking about something concrete happening with the new Hinsdale Bridge,” Selectboard member Tim Wessel said.
Elwell told The Commons, “As far as I know, this is the farthest along this project has ever gotten."
“I am very optimistic!” Barrett told The Commons, and added, “New Hampshire State Representative Mike Abbot from Hinsdale really got the ball rolling on the Hinsdale bridge project. I have been attending meetings with representatives from New Hampshire and Vermont and they have been moving forward with good momentum."