By Betsy Thompson
THE SHOPPER
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — The Bellows Falls Village Trustees heard an update on the Vilas Bridge project from Municipal Manager Scott Pickup during a recent board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 8.
The Vilas Bridge was closed in 2009 and since then Bellows Falls residents, merchants, and Town and Village board members have requested that the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) conduct the necessary engineering studies to rehabilitate the now 92-year-old bridge. The state of New Hampshire owns 93 percent of the Vilas Bridge and is responsible for that share of the funding.
NHDOT released the 10-year plan for 2023-2032 with the Vilas Bridge project categorized in the State Red List for bridges. The plan from Dec. 27, 2021, is still pending approval but has preliminary engineering scheduled for 2023.
Pickup said the updated plan also included additional federal infrastructure funding, and numbers reflecting a total project cost of $17 million. He explained the unfunded portion was about $460,000 which was the Vermont share for engineering and construction.
Pickup shared a proposed amendment by the Vermont Agency of Transportation to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan for an additional $480,863 added to FY21 for the Walpole–Rockingham Vilas Bridge project.
He said that they worked with state municipal planners to ensure the STIP matched the necessary funding with New Hampshire’s.
“It’s as close as we’ve come,” Pickup said. “It appears [to] be a fully funded project.”
Pickup added that the plan was submitted for legislative approval this month and once approved it just needs the signature of Governor Chris Sununu.
“Hopefully, 2023 sees the beginning of a rehab project that will benefit the Village and our whole community,” Pickup said.
The Vilas Bridge rehabilitation carries economic, safety, and environmental implications. The loss of the crossing has rerouted thousands of visitors daily around the downtown district of Bellows Falls and it continues to raise safety concerns for mutual aid efforts between Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls.
The current crossings include the Arch, or, Church Street Bridge that is often bottlenecked with an “at-grade” rail crossing that handles freight of 100 plus cars, and an underpass with height restrictions connecting Westminster, Vt. to Walpole, New Hampshire.
Environmental concerns of the bridge’s deterioration and further rehabilitation delays involve the waste pipe running along the underside of the Vilas Bridge. Walpole carries an agreement with the Bellows Falls Wastewater Plant and a failed bridge would be catastrophic to the Connecticut River south of Bellows Falls.
The Bellows Falls Village Trustees meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month in the Lower Theatre of the Bellows Falls Opera House at 6 p.m. This year, Town Meeting is an informational meeting only on Monday, Feb. 28, with all articles to be voted by Australian Ballot on Tuesday, March 1.
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