Woodstock Early Birds have been in a “Route Four Rut” for some time now and this summer it seems as if the sides of the main thoroughfare between Woodstock Village and Quechee/Interstate 89 has gotten worse. Even the usually reserved-in-his-comments Town Manager Phil Swanson described the situation as “dangerous.”
Yesterday, Early Bird herself practically lost control of the vehicle just before Woodstock Beverage (not after!) coming into town after an outing to the Upper Valley. We actually had been all excited on the same trip at a road block in the Quechee area formed by VTrans workers patching up the road with tar between Quechee and Interstate-89.
Following up, we gave VTrans District Four Supervisor Trevor Starr a little jingle to ask, “Hey, are you gonna’ fix the road (Route 4) between Taftsville and Woodstock anytime soon?” Cause we sure need it! Those long divots have us scraping mufflers, plastic bumpers and Lord knows what else.
We can also vouch for the fact that our Woodstock Ambulance drivers do not appreciate the road surface as they try to provide a smooth and comfortable ride to patients undergoing transport to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Nothing like a poor EMT trying to get a line going into an already anxious patient as a driver is weaving his or her way through the pretty much non-stop bumps, ruts and nasty patches along the way.
So. Mr Starr gave a call back and reports this bad and good news:
“Bad”– Short-term, VTrans is just patching Route 4 in the Quechee area.
“Good” — A VTrans plan to do a more than a patching, but a separate “leveling project” that will address the Route 4 road section between Woodstock Village and Quechee. This project has “gone out to bid” and a contract is expected soon, with work possibly starting this summer.
However, it means if your vehicle doesn’t have much clearance you need to careful that you don’t “bottom out.” But Woodstock Early Birds already know that. We’re just wondering if the State of Vermont will be paying our “out-of-alignment” bills?
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 