Woodstock residents along Route 106 are starting to express concern as news trickles out that a State of Vermont bridge deck repair plan might shut down Route 106 completely for a month.
The bridge slated for repair, officially “State Bridge No. 29 on VT 106” is about a quarter mile south of the Woodstock Inn Health and Racquet Club or to those who hit smaller balls, a mile from the Woodstock Golf Club.
If Route 106 were to be closed entirely, residents and visitors wanting to head north or south of town would need to go over Church Hill or Dunham Hill on virtually single-lane rutted dirt roads or take paved highway all the way around West Windsor through Hartland.
Woodstock residents Dave and Diane Doubleday’s driveway exits just off the Rt. 106 bridge in question. Although he only lives a couple of miles from Woodstock Village, Doubleday would — if the State plan is implemented — have to travel south several miles to South Woodstock and then turn onto Church Hill to retrace his tracks back into town.
The distance would run about 15 miles extra miles either way. Another resident of Rt. 106 expressed concern about the plan today and the extra time it would take to get to work and back home at the end of the day. Forget about running into town for a cup of coffee. Doubleday commented on a recent article in The Valley News about the bridge issue in which local officials expressed concerns about the possible impacts of the road closure to tourist traffic. Doubleday’s response, “What about locals? Are we chopped liver?’
No decision has been made yet on the traffic plan during the bridge repair. If Route 106 were to be closed off completely to traffic, the State says it could fix the bridge quickly in a month. The alternative would be to do the work while running single-lane traffic which would keep the North-South travel corridor open. However, the construction period would then take longer.
So, those of you who want to make sure you and your interests are not “chopped liver” will probably want to attend a PUBLIC HEARING on Tuesday, August 16th at 7:00pm at the Town Hall before the Select Board of Woodstock. The hearing is meant to be a forum for your comments and ideas about the impacts on the community of the planned State Bridge No. 29 replacement.
Route 106 Bridge Really Needs Work -- Holes give view of Brook
The Vermont Agency of Transportation is not having a good summer from a public relations standpoint. A project along Route 2 in Danville had locals waiting up to 45 minutes to get groceries and gas and was temporarily stopped due to the public outrage (let’s just say people were hopping MAD) at the inconvenience.
Hopefully, Woodstock will get out in front of this project to make it go more smoothly from the outset. Or we might risk what happened in Danville, hackers (of course, wrongfully, Early Bird doesn’t truly approve) getting into State Transport signs and re-coding them to read “Zombies Ahead..”
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 