Winooski council hears case to condemn 0.18-acre hotel parcel for Burlington–Winooski bridge staging; appraisal reviewed

Winooski City Council on Wednesday heard testimony and technical presentations about a proposed municipal condemnation of a 0.18-acre parcel owned by the Winooski Hotel Group to provide construction staging and access for the Burlington–Winooski bridge replacement.

The condemnation hearing included two panels: one on the necessity of temporarily using the parcel for construction staging and access, and a second on compensation. Christian Schorba, an attorney with Downs Rockland Martin representing the city, told the council, "This is a municipal condemnation of land owned by Winooski Hotel Group," and described the two issues the council must address: necessity and compensation under the municipal statute cited in the presentation.

The presentations were technical. Bob Kleinfelter, project manager for the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), described a phased, roughly three-year construction schedule that VTrans expects will require temporary work areas and repeated access to the river during demolition and reconstruction. Kleinfelter said the reconstructed bridge would be a four-lane structure with widened outside lanes for additional bike and pedestrian access and that construction activity will require material staging, crane lifts and concrete operations in constrained, historic and utility-dense surroundings.

HNTB consultant Josh Olin and structure manager Caroline Koda walked the council through sequential construction steps and showed plan views and renderings that identified three potential construction-access quadrants…