The long-awaited replacement for the aging bridges between Brattleboro and Hinsdale, N.H., got an important funding boost last week.
Three Democratic members of New Hampshire's congressional delegation - U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, and U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster - announced on Nov. 6 that that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded that state's Department of Transportation (NHDOT) $12 million through the Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program (known formerly as the TIGER grant program).
The funding was approved for the new bridge, which will bypass the two nearly-100-year-old bridges on the Connecticut River and rehabilitate them for recreational use.
In May, the New Hamphsire DOT downgraded the superstructure of both the Anna Marsh Bridge and the Charles Dana Bridge - both built in 1920 and rehabilitated in 1988 - from “fair” to “poor,” citing advancing corrosion-related deterioration.
The DOT applied for $20 million from the BUILD program this year. According to the application, the project is expected to cost almost $60 million.
The new bridge is expected to be complete by 2023. Rehabilitation of the old bridges for pedestrian use would take place the following year.
Shaheen, Hassan, and Kuster wrote letters of support on behalf of the project to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, as did Vermont's legislative delegation: Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch.
Other endorsements for the project came from New Hampshire Gov. Christopher Sununu, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, Vermont Secretary of Transportation Joe Flynn, Hinsdale Selectboard Chair Mike Darey, and Brattleboro Town Manager Peter Elwell.
Elwell chairs the project advisory committee.
Local planners Tim Murphy and Chris Campany, executive directors of the Southwest Region Planning Commission and Windham Regional Commission, respectively, also wrote their recommendations.
In a July 24 letter to Chao, Shaheen noted that the current bridges carry N.H. Route 119, “which connects Cheshire County and the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire to the international trade corridor of Interstate 91 in Vermont, which then connects the region to the Canadian trade market to the north and the larger New England ports to the south.”
Without these bridges, she said, the closest crossing “requires a 16.9-mile detour to the north through Chesterfield or a 19-mile detour to the south through Massachusetts.”
She also pointed out that this crossing allows “the many residents of Hinsdale who commute to Vermont for employment a convenient passage over the border,” and also serves as a critical link for residents and medical professionals to have quick access to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.
Campany described the bridge as a “critical link over the Connecticut River [that] connects two communities, two regions, and two states in everyday activities, including employment, commerce, public safety, and access to services.
He noted that replacement of the bridge has been “at or near the top of WRC's list of priority transportation infrastructure projects for 30 years.”
“The existing bridges are functionally obsolete and exhibit structural deterioration from over 90 years of use in the often harsh northern New England climate. The current configuration also involves an at-grade railroad crossing that creates on-going disruptions in accessibility and emergency response capabilities as traffic backs up into downtown Brattleboro, including Main Street [...],” he wrote.