BRATTLEBORO-Selectboard members are proceeding with caution about if and how the town might step up if the Anna Hunt Marsh Bridge is repurposed.
"There are risks and liabilities, and we need to be mindful of them," said Board Chair Elizabeth McLoughlin. "And there are financial responsibilities. Hinsdale and Brattleboro are playing a very interesting game of Old Maid that no one wants this responsibility."
Town representatives had met with the Board of Selectmen in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, in March to hear about plans by their state Department of Transportation (NHDOT) to renovate the Anna Hunt Marsh and Charles Dana bridges - both now decommissioned regarding vehicular traffic - for pedestrian and bicycle access.
The Anna Marsh Bridge is a truss bridge across the Connecticut River, connecting the Vermont side of the river to the island. In turn, the Charles Dana Bridge connects the island to the east bank of the river in Hinsdale.
Board member Peter Case noted his impression in those meetings that, after a $9 million commitment to make the bridges "shiny and somewhat new, how low on the priority list New Hampshire DOT was going to make this."
"I've never maintained a bridge," Case said. "I don't imagine it's inexpensive."
"It is a leap of faith," agreed board member Amanda Ellis-Thurber. "So I understand the trepidation that is coming from the Selectboard simultaneously with the optimism."
A hot potato
Town Manager John Potter said in the meetings it became evident that while keeping the bridges open seemed to hold benefits for Brattleboro, Hinsdale town officials are less enthusiastic.
That Selectboard has expressed interest in gating the bridge and board members have prioritized not allowing the bridges and island to become tax burdens for residents.
According to Potter, Hinsdale Town Administrator Kathryn Lynch said in one meeting among the two towns' representatives that "the significant increase in calls for service to the island is already placing an unexpected burden on [their] limited budget."
Potter said the calls have included those for homeless activity, vicious dogs, people fighting, people starting fires, and drug use.
In one week, the Hinsdale Police Department responded to six calls for service and its fire department to two more. Furthermore, said Potter, Hinsdale officials believe that the people responsible for these calls are 95% from the Brattleboro community.
The Hinsdale Selectboard "does want to be part of any request for proposals] process," said Potter, but the town wants assurances in advance, including what any leaseholder would do to keep the space safe, clean, and protected by police.
Hinsdale officials apparently also want to know whether the New Hampshire Department of Transportation will pay any cleanup bills or service calls and whether the space will be gated and/or posted for trespassing.
Post meeting, Potter intended to contact the Hinsdale board to gauge its interest in co-signing the letter to the NHDOT.
Razing the bridge or bridges and joining the Connecticut River Conservancy to work on the island and create a dock on the Brattleboro side have also been suggested.
"We need to keep in mind the negative activities; that would only increase in warm weather, and we'd also be supplying mutual aid," said Selectboard Chair Elizabeth McLoughlin.
Ellis-Thurber noted there's "a lot of hope for this space," with the Conservancy and others interested in working to steward the island.
"As a municipality, we don't have any money to spend, but there's such an interested group of citizens," she said, adding later, "It's not a flash in the pan."
Excited by the possible beautification project for the bridge(s), resident Marta Gossage likened it to the iconic Bridge of Flowers in nearby Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, where a former trolley bridge was transformed into a pedestrian garden 95 years ago.
"I see this project being this beautiful thing that can really transform into something magnificent and wonderful," said Case, pointing out that the bridges are owned by Hinsdale but Brattleboro residents have to look at them.
He referenced the United States Navy Seabees Bridge, which connects Brattleboro to Chesterfield, New Hampshire. The bridge was built in 1937 and, in 2003, a new, wider one was built adjacent to its predecessor.
Case said that bridge, designated for foot and bicycle traffic but rusting and neglected, "had that same promise, and it's nothing short of Dystopian."
Board members agreed the letter to the NHDOT should carry a request for both towns to provide input via a public process if one or both of the Dana and Marsh bridges are advertised to be leased.
"I think we should be respecting Hinsdale's concerns, some of which I share," said McLoughlin of the letter.
Bridge Street grant addresses traffic patterns
Brattleboro is one of eight municipalities to recently receive funding from the state Agency of Commerce and Community Development's Vermont Downtown Transportation Fund for the Bridge Street Enhancements Project.
The $124,405 award is intended to support "walkability" via enhancements to Bridge Street and the intersection of Main, Bridge, and Vernon streets, known locally as Malfunction Junction.
Town Planning Director Sue Fillion applied for the grant on behalf of the town.
She says the grant will help pay to engineer and build improvements to Bridge Street, including narrowing the roadway, reconstructing an existing 5-foot sidewalk on the north side of the street, adding an 8-foot sidewalk on the south side of the street, adding more crosswalks, and adding beautification with some landscaping.
Funding will also include narrowing Vernon Street as it nears the intersection of Bridge Street.
"Once complete, [the work] will provide for a more welcoming connection between the riverfront, Amtrak Station, and existing bridges, and Main Street," Fillion said.
"This grant builds off the work of the Walk/Bike Action Plan, Downtown Design Plan, and the Canal Street Corridor Plan," she added. "Each of these plans recognized that the new bridge to Hinsdale would change the vehicular traffic on Bridge Street dramatically. They each envision transforming the roadway to better accommodate pedestrian and bicycles."
The total estimated project cost is $155,500. Fillion says the remaining money needed "will come from [a] local match, which will be a combination of in-kind services from Public Works and Special Projects funding that was set aside for bicycle and pedestrian grant match funding."
The next step will be to go out to bid for engineering services to design the project. The timeline is not yet known but Fillion anticipates construction would likely occur in 2026.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.