By Emma Stanton, Staff Writer
For several years, residents and visitors alike have waited patiently for the reopening of the Quechee Gorge Bridge. This week, J.B. McCarthy, VTrans project manager for the Quechee Bridge work, provided the Standard with a timeline for when construction will wrap up.
McCarthy confirmed that construction began again in April. “The team has started work on the north side of the bridge, where they have to lay a new sidewalk and install all the guardrails and pedestrian rails,” McCarthy said.
“I’m told that that work is going to be done by the end of June. In [July], both lanes of traffic and both sidewalks [will be open] during off-work hours. During the day, the construction team will have lane closures as needed.” McCarthy mentioned that the crew typically works until 4:30 or 5 p.m. each day.
McCarthy said the westbound lane is expected to be closed during the day while the crew works to finish construction. “That type of [partial closure] may go until early August. But the whole traffic control that has been in place will be removed by the end of June.” Residents can expect to see flaggers on site directing traffic from end of June to early August, according to McCarthy.
“A final inspection has been scheduled for sometime mid to late August,” McCarthy said. “So, at that point, everything will be cleaned up for Foliage Season.”
McCarthy added, “Issues could always pop up, but the one side of the bridge is already fully complete. The team knows what to watch out for and how to do the second side quickly and efficiently. Construction usually goes better the second time around.”
“I think the traffic system we had in place for a majority of the construction project worked very well. We hardly had any complaints and found that drivers never had to wait more than a few minutes at the light,” McCarthy concluded. “We are happy with the progress and look forward to opening the bridge fully later this summer.”