The new Gen. John Stark Memorial Bridge connecting Hinsdale, NH, and Brattleboro, VT, opened after 3 years of construction, replacing old truss bridges. The project, in planning for nearly 30 years, aims to ease traffic and improve economic opportunities in the region, cheered on by state officials and the teams who built it.
Photo courtesy of Trans
The Gen. John Stark Memorial Bridge connecting Hinsdale, N.H., with Brattleboro, Vt., opened to vehicular traffic on Dec. 4.
There were a lot of congratulations to go around Dec. 3 during a ribbon cutting at the Gen. John Stark Memorial Bridge connecting Hinsdale, N.H., with Brattleboro, Vt., but the biggest round of applause went out to the laborers who, through rain, sleet, snow and heatwaves, put together the new $62.5 million bridge over the past three years.
The sparkling new road bridge, which curves across the Connecticut River between the two New England states, finally opened to vehicle traffic the next day, Dec. 4.
"It's not about … dignitaries and whatnot," said Daniel Quipp, chair of the Brattleboro Select Board, during the earlier event on the New Hampshire side of the river. "It's really about the people that actually built this thing and it's going to last for a good long time."
According to the Brattleboro Reformer, among the officials that turned out for the ribbon cutting were New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) Secretary Joe Flynn, N.H. Rep. Michael Abbott, D-Cheshire 1st District; Vt. Rep. Mollie Burke, P-Windham 2-2 District; and N.H. State Sen. Denise Riccardi, R-9th District.
Jack Parker, chair and CEO of Reed and Reed Inc., the Woolwich, Maine, company that built the bridge, also was on hand to thank each state and its representatives, including Mark Moran, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation's onsite contract manager, and Tim Chapman, NHDOT's district construction engineer.
"You were committed to working fairly and productively with us to get this project across the finish line," Parker added. "Teamwork matters."
The Gen. John Stark Memorial Bridge had been in the works for nearly 30 years and replaces the two nearby truss bridges that have connected the two towns for the past 100 years. The old Anna Hunt Marsh and Charles Dana bridges will now be decommissioned and rehabilitated for pedestrian access.
Parker noted that it took 11,700 cu. yds. of concrete to build the new 1,800-ft.-long bridge. Its construction also required 12,600 linear ft. of steel pipe pile, some of which was driven 180 ft. into the bedrock underneath the river for the pylon foundations, as well as 1.8 million lbs. of rebar, and 2,900 tons of structural steel.
New Bridge Should Also Help Clear Nearby ‘Malfunction Junction'
When the first train steamed into Brattleboro in 1849, a regional newspaper reported how "exhilaration of the moment burst forth" as residents celebrated the arrival of an easy route to seemingly everywhere in the world.
Everywhere except neighboring New Hampshire, that is, VTDigger noted.
The new rails ran beside the Connecticut River and a wooden covered bridge that carried horse-drawn buggies across to the Granite State, local historians recounted. With the start of the 20th century, and the advent of automobiles, newer bridges with steel spans were required.
But downtown Brattleboro traffic tie-ups caused by carriages and cars waiting for passing trains persisted for the next 120 years.
In speaking with the Reformer, Sununu said now that the new bridge is complete and open, maybe something more can be done at the adjacent Main Street intersection in Brattleboro known locally as "Malfunction Junction."
Delays occur there during lunch hour and at the end of each workday when the Amtrak Vermonter passes through that part of downtown and brings vehicle traffic to a halt.
"The intersection commonly exhibits high congestion and presents inherent safety risks," the two states' transportation agencies confirmed in a recent report.
But, the Gen. John Stark Memorial Bridge, named for the American Revolution officer who penned New Hampshire's state motto, "Live Free or Die," will allow nearly 9,000 daily motorists to cross high above the vehicle-delaying rail tracks.
"I don't think it's going to bring more people, but it's going to clean up that intersection and make it more efficient," said Gregory Lesch, executive director of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce.
VTDigger reported that transportation officials from Vermont and New Hampshire first proposed the new structure in 1977 after seeing problems with the current century-old crossing, but bureaucratic challenges delayed any construction until 2021.
New Hampshire — which controls the waterway between the two states — is tapping federal and state funds to pay for about 80 percent of the project, while Vermont is doing the same to cover the rest, according to an agreement between the two states.
Cooperation Between Two States Drove Construction
Sununu also noted that the new Gen. John Stark Memorial Bridge is sure to bring more economic opportunity to the region.
"This is an absolute homerun, not just for New Hampshire, but all of New England."
Burke, who has represented Brattleboro in the Vermont capital of Montpelier since 2008, said much of the credit for the bridge goes out to Abbott, her colleague across the river in Hinsdale who she said was intent in keeping the bridge on that state's priority list.
"The project had been put on hold, and he was able to get some New Hampshire state officials to come down here and walk the existing bridges to see the deteriorating conditions," she explained. "Somehow Rep. Abbott worked his magic, and the project got under way. I don't believe we'd be standing here today without his determination and advocacy."
When he spoke at the Dec. 3 ceremony, Abbott said, "What you see before you is a lot of hard work by a lot of hard-working people. I think it's only fair to give credit to Reed and Reed and their employees."
Steve Diorio, chair of the Hinsdale Board of Selectmen, thanked all of the citizens who advocated for the bridge over the past 30 years.
"This is a really big deal for us," he said. "We're optimistic that it will nurture economic development and growth for the area."
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