Faced with $695 per month costs for the flashing signs on both ends of Meadow Road bridge alerting drivers to the newly-adopted eight-ton weight limit, the Waitsfield Select Board is exploring purchasing cloud-based web cams for that bridge and the Waitsfield Covered Bridge.
Waitsfield was forced to post the bridge at eight tons after further structural deterioration of the one-lane bridge over the Mad River connecting Route 100 to Meadow Road was discovered. The bridge became the sole method of crossing the river after flooding in 2024 washed out bridges on Route 100B and Route 100. That wear and tear contributed significantly to deterioration that was already well underway, according to select board members who discussed the issue late last month.
At the board’s November 24 meeting, town administrator York Haverkamp updated the board on community outreach efforts on the new weight limit as well as increased law enforcement presence near the bridge. Washington County Sheriff deputies patrol Waitsfield at a set number of hours a week and Haverkamp told the board that more hours might be available for patrol if needed.
Haverkamp said that town road crews were not using heavy town equipment on the bridge and that the Harwood Unified Union School District buses were not routing heavy buses over the bridge. Board member Fred Messer said he’d reached out to the Moretown Fire Department fire chief Stefan Pratt about that fire department responding to calls on the north end of North Road when possible so that the Waitsfield Fire Department, coming from Route 100 in the village could avoid the Meadow Road bridge. The Waitsfield Fire Department can use Tremblay Road to reach properties south of the single-lane Pine Brook Covered Bridge.
Messer told the board that Moretown often has fire department personnel shortages during the day and Waitsfield firefighters are often mobilized as first responders. A fully loaded fire department tanker truck comes in at 58,000 pounds while a fully-loaded ag/manure truck comes in at 60,000 pounds.
Haverkamp also detailed for the board several responses to inquiries he’d made about the exemption for agricultural vehicles, allowing them to cross over posted bridges. He told the board that those exemptions are part of state law and the town cannot enforce the eight-ton limit.
During the discussion of educating the public about the Meadow Road bridge limits, the board also discussed town efforts to secure FEMA funding for some costs associated with engineering a new bridge and or attempting to repair the existing bridge, something board members feel is not feasible.
Additionally, the board has been working on grants and applications for a temporary bridge, either via VTrans or FEMA or a private contractor, but increasingly is turning away from that idea in favor of trying to make the existing bridge last as long as possible while engineering and seeking funds to build a new one.
But board members are committed to having either a new evaluation or asking for a VTrans or FEMA re-evaluation of the wear on the bridge to classify more of it as due to the 2024 traffic increase when flooding washed out two bridges. In 2020, the Route 100B bridge over the Mad River in Moretown was replaced in 2020 which also increased traffic on the Meadow Road bridge even though the official detour did not include that route.
“I don’t think the town should be off the hook for knowing that that bridge was not going to last forever. Twelve years ago, the select board talked about whether to put replacement plan in place. It hasn’t been a top issue until the 2024 flood,” board chair Brian Shupe said.
Board members discussed mapping platforms such as Apple and Google maps and Waze which often erroneously route drivers to the bridge without alerting them to the weight limits.
At the encouragement of board member David Babbott-Klein, the board is now going to explore cloud-based webcams (and the appropriate cellular data plans) for cameras the Meadow Road bridge and also at the covered bridge in Waitsfield Village where recently there was another bridge strike.
On November 17 a local resident came into the town offices to share pictures and information about a Wasted truck delivering a port-a-let that hit the bridge. That driver entered the bridge headed west with a port-a-let on top. The port-a-let hit the bridge and the driver stopped and backed up, causing boards at the entrance to fall off. Per town staff, the resident said the driver exited the bridge and left without checking on the port-a-let or bridge. The town has the license plate number for that truck.
Town road staff are repairing the damage.
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