Shutterstock photo/Eric Buermeyer
Two long-term infrastructure projects, one in Orange County, Vt., and another in Grafton County, N.H., on opposite sides of the Connecticut River, are set to wrap up in November to the relief of residents and business owners in both states.
The Valley News in West Lebanon, N.H., reported Oct. 8 that a 6-mi. stretch of southbound Interstate 91 in Vermont, between exits 16 and 15 in the community of Fairlee, Vt., is expected to reopen at the beginning of November after having closed in April.
The project has so far cost approximately $4 million.
Two weeks later, and after more than 18 months and $9.4 million in construction costs, the bridge over the Connecticut River connecting East Thetford, Vt., and Lyme, N.H., on East Thetford Road is scheduled to fully reopen, about a month later than originally planned.
The most difficult part of any project such as the river bridge is the detour, Joseph Flynn, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), said in a phone interview with Valley News.
"That's always the challenge: the disruption to travel," he explained.
To cross the Connecticut River, drivers have either detoured about 12 mi. north to the crossing between Orford, N.H., and Fairlee, Vt., or 18 mi. south to the Ledyard Bridge between Hanover, N.H., and Norwich, Vt.
Currently, detouring motorists from the I-91 southbound closure must go through downtown Fairlee on U.S. Highway 5. The change in traffic flow as a result of the construction efforts has caused delays, longer commutes and a decrease in customers for some local businesses.
Both Infrastructure Projects Have Faced Delays
Construction on I-91 southbound was set to end by mid-to-late August.
However, Bruce Martin, a VTrans project manager, told the Valley News in a July email that the scope of the project expanded when workers "found several locations that would be expected to fail and could overwhelm the southbound lanes with rock material."
The construction on that stretch of I-91 began following a rockfall this past February.
Since then, J.A. McDonald Inc., based in Lyndon, Vt., has served as the prime contractor and worked to stabilize the cliffside by clearing trees, removing existing mesh, hand-scaling loose rock material and vegetation along the faces of the ledge, and installing dowels to hold the rocks in place.
A rolling roadblock has been implemented periodically on the northbound side of I-91 during the scaling activities to prevent cars from driving through areas where falling rocks could cause damage, Valley News noted.
The Thetford-Lyme bridge was originally supposed to open this month, but last winter the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) granted the project's contractor, New England Infrastructure Inc., of Hudson, Mass., a time extension after the need for more structural steel repairs were uncovered in the cleaning and painting process.
The span, built in 1937, had deteriorating steel and concrete, a factor that put it on NHDOT's Red List along with other state bridges that require stepped up inspections due to being in poor condition.
Before the structure closed in April 2023, it had a reduced weight limit of 15 tons, the agency said.
NHDOT spokesperson Jennifer Lane told Valley News that following the bridge's scheduled opening Nov. 15, some construction cleanup will continue until just before Thanksgiving Day.
The decision to rehabilitate the bridge instead of demolishing it and building a new one came down to a variety of factors, the New Hampshire news source said, including the span's eligibility for placement on the National Register of Historic Places, a National Park Service listing of structures and places worthy of preservation.
Locals Cannot Wait for Projects to Open
As the detours on both sides of the Connecticut River are now set to end next month, residents took time to reflect on their impact.
"I couldn't believe one bridge like that would take so many customers away," said Bonnie Huggett, owner of Huggett's Mart, a gas station and convenience store along U.S. 5 in East Thetford. "Closing the bridge was very devastating for small businesses like mine. My sales were hit really hard."
Sam Ranger, retail manager of the farmstand at Cedar Circle Farm on Pavilion Road in East Thetford, told the Valley News that although the business has seen a reduction in sales, its New Hampshire workers "have done a good job reaching across the river."
Cedar Circle Farm, which operates a farmstand, cafe, commercial kitchen and educational center, started a pre-order and delivery service last summer at the Lyme Country Store on Wednesdays and Fridays for its New Hampshire customers. It also began a pop-up farmstand on Wednesdays in the Lyme Country Store parking lot.
Eric Tadlock, executive director of the nonprofit farm, said he is "very thankful" for the partnership with New Hampshire's Lyme Country Store.
Despite his farm's revenue losses of about 30 percent in 2023 and 20 percent in 2024, the business's "feelings of success come from being able to maintain connections with the Lyme community, not finances and figures," he explained.
Tadlock, who lives in Lyme, has canoed across the river a few times to commute to work during the Thetford-Lyme bridge closure, a quicker journey, he said, than taking one of the roadway detours.
Many businesses on the Lyme, N.H., side of the river told Valley News that they did not see too much of a difference in revenue as a result of the bridge being shut down.
"Everybody's been really good about it," said Tami Dowd, owner of Dowds' Country Inn and Event Center. "The locals grumble about having to go through Hanover but that's about it."
And Theo Damaskos, the manager at Chapman's General Store in Fairlee, Vt., said she's seen an "uptick in customers who would normally be going down [U.S. 5]."
Along with travelers detouring off I-91 southbound, the bridge closure also is directing new patrons to the store, especially from Hanover, according to Damaskos.
Nearby, Janice Neil, owner of the Jan's Fairlee Diner, said "people have stopped in who didn't know the diner existed or even the town of Fairlee existed."
In speaking with the local news source, Neil said she is not worried about losing business once the interstate reopens but appreciates the support the diner has received.
However, the detour and rolling roadblock is still a disruption of daily life for many Connecticut River Valley folks.
Samuel Morey Elementary School, situated off U.S. 5 in Fairlee, has experienced "minor delays" from the roadblocks and increased traffic volume have sometimes made staff and families late to school, Principal Tom Buzzell said.
Needless to say, the school community is looking forward to the road "being back to normal," Buzzell noted.
He does, however, recognize the importance of the construction.
"It's tough, dangerous work that's essential for us to have safe infrastructure," Buzzell explained. "I'm happy the crew's here getting that work done."
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