http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110513/NEWS02/705139877
Published May 13, 2011 in the Rutland Herald
Route 103 closing in Chester looms
By SUSAN SMALLHEER
Staff Writer
CHESTER — The adage “you can’t get there from here” starts Monday in Chester, when Route 103 south of town is closed to through traffic, particularly truck traffic, as construction to replace two key bridges starts.
Engineers from the Agency of Transportation met with area town officials Thursday afternoon in Chester to go over any last-minute details of the $2.5 million project, which is to start Monday and last two months, until July 17.
Two bridges will be replaced. First is the so-called Benny’s Bridge, built in 1935, at the intersection of Routes 103 and 11.
The second bridge closing will close a larger section of Route 103 in about a month, and will cut off access via River Street. That bridge was built in 1924.
Cold River Bridges LLC, a bridge construction firm based in Walpole, N.H., will do the work on the two bridges.
According to Chester Select Board Chairman John DeBenedetti, Cold River replaced another key bridge in Chester last fall in record time, and he praised the company for doing quality and timely work.
DeBenedetti said that he was worried about the impact of the bridges’ closing on Chester’s business community, in particular the businesses south of the bridge closings.
But he said that all the worry could actually make things worse, and make even more people avoid Chester.
He said there are five roads leading in and out of Chester, including Route 103.
Local traffic is expected to get around the closure during the first month using River Street, and then once the second smaller bridge is closed, via Green Mountain Turnpike, a dirt road that parallels Route 103 south of town, but on the other side of the Williams River.
But no signs will be posted directing traffic to Green Mountain Turnpike, state officials said, because traffic cannot be diverted from state highways to local roads. Instead, a large detour effort will be made, to keep most of the traffic going through Springfield.
Several people voiced concern about a narrow bridge that leads to Green Mountain Turnpike, and whether it could handle the additional traffic.
State traffic counts estimate there are 7,200 vehicles a day on Route 103 in Chester, but that figure includes both north and southbound traffic, as well as local trips.
The brunt of the diverted traffic, in particular truck traffic, is expected to hit Springfield.
Springfield Town Manager Robert Forguites told the gathering that Springfield was prepared to be a good neighbor, since its own bridge project two years ago sent truck traffic through Chester.
But Forguites said the town was concerned about two hours in June — during the town’s annual Alumni Parade, which closes Main Street for two hours.
Forguites asked state Agency of Transportation officials for help keeping truck traffic out of downtown Springfield the morning of June 18, since the town’s parade detour is on narrow, twisty town roads, and not very condusive to heavy trucks. Forguites also asked for some traffic control officers that day.
But Chris Williams, the project manager of the Chester bridge project, said that the state was pondering the best solution to the Saturday morning problem, since he said making special notices for only a two-hour closing could be confusing to drivers. He said the state would help monitor the increased traffic through downtown Springfield, in particular the traffic lights in the downtown area.
Williams said that starting Monday a big effort would be made to keep truck traffic out of Chester, with traffic officers stopping trucks on their way to town. The trucks will either be diverted to Interstate 91 in Rockingham or over to Springfield on Route 10 or Route 11.
If trucks get as far as Green Mountain Union High School, they will be turned around, he said, either by local police or motor vehicle officers.
Mike Hindes, Rockingham’s highway chief, said his town was worried about heavy traffic damaging the historic covered bridge in Lower Bartonsville, a village in Rockingham close to the Chester town line.
Hindes said the town planned on posting warning signs and would also place physical barriers on the bridge to prevent any large trucks from using the bridge.
“We have lost a bridge — straight into the river — from an overloaded truck,” Hindes said, referring to the spectacular collapse of the Hall Covered Bridge into the Saxtons River in 1980. The bridge was eventually rebuilt.
Hindes said he was particularly worried about people relying on their GPS system directions, regardless of weight restrictions on the Bartonsville Covered Bridge.
Williams said Route 103 would be closed at 7 a.m. Monday, and that message boards and detour signs would be uncovered before that.
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