By Layla Burke Hastings
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SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Thirty residents attended the Springfield Selectboard meeting Monday to protest the closing of the Cutler Road Bridge, sharing personal experiences as well as research into the heavily traveled route and the new detour as evidence for their concerns.
Public Works Director Jeff Strong presented information and reasons as to why the bridge needed to be closed.
“The deck of the bridge is in good condition. It’s the abutments that are unsafe,” Strong said, explaining that inspectors rated the bridge support as poor and likely to collapse under the ongoing weight of traffic.
Strong said the Public Works Department hired Todd Hindinger, an engineer who had previously evaluated two dilapidated buildings for the town, to assess the bridge’s condition.
According to the evaluation, replacing the abutments could cost between $110,000 and $150,000.
The next options were a metal culvert that could cost $200,000 to $250,000, or a concrete culvert which could cost $275,000 to $325,000, according to Strong.
Strong said the town does not have the money to repair the bridge and that state grant research up to Monday has resulted in no results.
Residents brought a petition with 58 signatures requesting reconsideration of the bridge closing.
According to various residents, the detour is as dangerous as the bridge.
One resident said crossing into the opposite lane to take a right hand turn from Springfield on Route 11 was inevitable.
Several residents spoke of accounts of either driving or observing high risk situations where two automobiles could collide by either head-on collision or a rear-end collision based on the turning angle.
One resident said that very afternoon he had experienced what he termed as “a very close call” was hauling his four wheelers on a trailer.
“I was heading home from New Hampshire after opening up some trails today and I turned onto the detour and some guy almost nailed the back of me,” he said.
Springfield Selectboard Chair Walter Martone gave eight people a two-minute limit to speak. However, that too became an issue for attendees as residents argued it was not enough time to be heard.
In the end, Martone said residents who spoke would be contacted directly by the town of Springfield with answers to the dilemma.
Due to the heavily contested nature of the meeting over this particular issue, police were posted outside the door of the meeting room.
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