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At Nearly 100 Years Old, Waterbury, Vt.'s Stowe Street Bridge in Need of Replacement

Vermont's Stowe Street Bridge, nearly 100 years old and in need of replacement, will undergo construction from May to November 2025, costing $3.4 million. Detours will redirect traffic and result in temporary inconveniences for residents and commuters.

Tue May 13, 2025 - Northeast Edition
Valley Reporter


In late May 2025, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) will begin overseeing the replacement of a 97-year-old bridge at the top of Stowe Street in the small town of Waterbury, Vt. The structure sits just below the street's intersection with Vermont Highway 100, spanning Thatcher Brook.

"It's in fair-to-poor condition, so it's been ready for bridge replacement for several years now," said Bill Woodruff, Waterbury's public works director in speaking with the Valley Reporter, a weekly news source based in nearby Waitsfield.

VTrans officials have told the town that construction on the project is expected to last until November 2025. In addition, the section of Stowe Street near the bridge will be closed for 60 days, and nearby Lincoln Street will be shut down for three weeks.

Besides the new road structure on Stowe Street, plans also call for the addition of a right-turning lane headed northbound on Vt. 100, and a straight/left-turning lane for traffic heading across Vt. 100 and onto Blush Hill Road or turning left onto Vt. 100 southbound.

The existing sidewalk also will be moved to the upstream side of the bridge, which Woodruff said will be more friendly to pedestrians and give more room for drivers turning toward Lincoln Street.

J. Hutchins Inc., a family operated excavation and paving contractor located in Richmond, Vt., won the project bid. The bridge and road work is estimated to cost $3.4 million, the Valley Reported noted on May 8, 2025.

Waterbury Town Manager Tom Leitz said that, typically, projects like the bridge revamp involve the town paying 5 percent of the cost. In this case, the municipality paid that percentage for the engineering, he explained, but the state picked up the rest of the tab.

A quartet of key traffic detours will be set during the bridge/road construction, including:

  • one for the 21-day closure of Lincoln Street that will direct traffic onto Perry Hill Road to Kneeland Flats Road to Guptil Road, before putting drivers back onto Vt. 100;
  • another for the 60-day closure of Stowe Street. During that time, vehicle traffic will be diverted from Stowe Street onto Main Street and then onto Vt. 100;
  • a third detour to take drivers traveling along Stowe Street to Perry Hill Road, then left onto Kneeland Flats Road, left onto Guptil Road, and back onto Vt. 100; and
  • traffic headed down Stowe Street from Vt. 100 toward Brookside Primary School and Main Street will need to instead take Vt. 100 over Interstate 89 and through the roundabout to Main Street.

Vermont's park and ride lot on Lincoln Street also will be closed during construction. VTrans staff have designated a lot at the State Office Complex in downtown Waterbury as a temporary park and ride site. Commuters and those needing a spot to park will be directed to the lot at the intersection of Park Row and Randall Street in what was formerly the Stanley and Wasson halls parking facility.

One concern that local residents might have is that they will not be able to walk across the bridge during the construction period to shop at the nearby Shaw's Supermarket on Vt. 100; however, Leitz said that he and other town officials do not believe there will be a problem.

"The Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission last year put some cameras on the existing bridge to try to get some numbers on pedestrian use of the bridge," he said. "I believe they had those cameras up for about a month, and they did not capture any pedestrians using the bridge, so we think we're OK in that regard."

Jeanne and Jim Atchinson, who live on Stowe Street in the house closest to the bridge, might be facing the most discomfort from the project, according to the Valley Reporter.

The state purchased the right-of-way for a corner of their land for what the couple believes will be a piece of the new bridge's foundation. In addition, some of the oldest trees on the couple's property are being cut down to make room for construction vehicles.

The Atchinsons hope that one of the major improvements from the building project will be an easing of the frequent traffic snarls on the Stowe Street bridge at Vt. 100 and at Lincoln Street given the wider bridge design and the turning lane.

Currently, cars headed right and left from Stowe onto Vt. 100, as well as straight across the intersection to go north on Blush Hill Road, all stack up at the busy intersection. They told the Valley Reporter that traffic often stretches south from the stoplight down Stowe Street.




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