By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
Residents and business owners alike will be happy to hear that Route 12 is intended to reopen on Friday, May 27,2022.
The route has been closed since August 2021, leaving few options for anyone traveling between Charlestown and Keene. Construction halted on March 4,2022, but eventually resumed again in April, making the original completion date of April 29th an impossibility.
“The intention is to have the road open by noon on Friday,” said New Hampshire Department Of Transportation employee Ronald Guyette.
The intended reopening of Route 12 will feature minimal traffic delays as some construction will continue. Both the northbound and southbound lanes will be open simultaneously.
Severe storms in late July last year washed roughly 600 feet of the southbound lane down the nearby slope and toward the river. As a result, the route was shut down, leaving Interstate 91 as the main avenue for traveling between Claremont, Bellows Falls,VT, and Keene. This left small towns between the two cities without the traffic that helps to stimulate their economies.
Ralphs Market of Charlestown, among others, have seen a significant loss of customers as a result of the route closing. “A lot of people that used to come here from other towns like Walpole are using Interstate 91, so they don’t come through Charlestown anymore. People coming from Claremont and going to places like Keene are doing the same. I think it will be really good for us and everyone else for the route to reopen. We are looking forward to it,” said Nayn Patel, the store’s manager.
Initial construction began in January after Casella Construction in Mendon, VT was awarded the $2.6 million contract. After negotiating with the railroad company, a plan to construct a soil nail wall went underway. After the track monitoring system detected significant movement, the train was forced to reduce speeds to 10 miles per hour. The soil nail wall, used to aid in stability by inserting steel reinforcement beams into the soil and connecting them to the soil strata, was ultimately rescinded by the railroad company. This, in tandem with high ground water and sharp changes in temperature, became significant reasons to completely halt construction on the route.
After consulting with engineers on a new design plan, a short term solution was provided to get the road open as soon as possible. A long term plan will continue to be investigated as part of the Ten Year Plan proposed by NH DOT. Completely new drainage structures were installed underneath the route crossing from the railroad track and into the nearby river to help deter future water damage and wash out. The area that had been previously washed out also received a bed of B stone, a granular gravel made of sand and stone, to help stabilize the slope and support the road.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.