The temporary bridge over Route 100B just north of Maynard’s farm is down to one lane, with a traffic light, because of a structural failure requiring repairs.
The bridge, which is south of Moretown Village, Pony Farm Road and Freeman Hill Road, spans Dowsville Brook. It was installed after flooding in 2024 saw that brook damage or destroy three bridges.
The eastern lane of the bridge is closed with barrels and temporary traffic lights are on both ends. The southern end of the bridge shows a noticeable slump/depression, and a section of the pavement is cut out and has been filled with a rectangular steel plate.
Vtrans plans to replace the temporary bridge in 2028/2029. According to Lance Duquette, Vtrans transportation administrator for District 6 (Capital Region), maintenance crews are making a repair to the temporary bridge, which is expected to be completed this week.
A REPAIR
Duquette said there is no information available yet about the bridge replacement timeline. That’s significant locally as Vtrans has requested that Waitsfield allow its Meadow Road bridge over the Mad River to be used as a Vtrans detour when the Route 100B bridge is replaced.
Vtrans has concurrently advised the town of Waitsfield to further reduce the weight load of the Meadow Road bridge, suggesting last month that the town drop the emergency vehicle weight limit to 12,000 pounds. The board did that at a Sept. 14 meeting where board members discussed whether the bridge would have to be closed completely.
The town has already begun work toward a permanent replacement for that bridge. Earlier this year, the Select Board asked DuBois & King to determine whether additional investment could extend the life of the existing bridge. The answer was no.
action comes after VTrans issued a new report showing further deterioration of the Meadow Road bridge.
BOND VOTE
The town subsequently issued a request for proposals, and engineer Tyler Billingsley is working on a 30% design and probable cost for a replacement bridge. A bond vote for a
new one-lane bridge with pedestrian accommodations is expected to come before voters at Town Meeting in March. The town is also exploring the possibility of a covered bridge.
Given the current condition of the Meadow Road bridge and this week’s repair of the Route 100B bridge, as well as the uncertainty over how that will impact the 2028/29 replacement of the bridge, the Meadow Road bridge is taking on a new urgency for town officials.
Before this week’s repairs to the state bridge and the weight limit reduction at Meadow Road bridge, the town had been exploring whether VTrans’ request to use Meadow Road bridge for a detour during its replacement of the Route 100B might lead to help with a temporary town bridge.
PROVIDE A BRIDGE
In July town administrator York Haverkamp told the select board he has already begun discussions with VTrans and wanted to use the next several years to determine whether the agency can help the town address the bridge before detour traffic begins. He said one possibility is to ask VTrans to provide a temporary bridge or otherwise participate in a solution if the town cannot complete a permanent replacement before construction begins.
This week, The Valley Reporter reached out to Waitsfield Select Board chair Brian Shupe about whether the Route 100B lane closure changes the town’s negotiating position with Vtrans in terms of the state’s desire to use the bridge as a detour when the state bridge is replaced.
“We’re not necessarily thinking of our negotiating strategy with the state. We're thinking about fixing a bridge that needs fixing. And certainly, the Route 100B bridge being degraded, puts a lot more pressure on the community and on that bridge. We expect and hope that VTrans will be a partner in solving that problem because this clearly shows that the Meadow Road Bridge is an important part of the state's transportation network in the Mad River Valley. And we cannot accommodate large trucks on that bridge. That's an absolute. The bridge inspector said, 8000 pounds. That's the limit. We need to continue to enforce that,” Shupe said.
Waitsfield has reduced the weight limits on Meadow Road bridge to 12,000 pounds for emergency vehichles and has also posted signs warning that the bridge is for passenger cars only. This
