Vermont AOT outlines Central Garage relocation to Berlin parcel after repeated flooding

Vermont Agency of Transportation Director of Fleet Todd Law updated the Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 5 on plans to move the agency's Central Garage out of the flood-prone Route 302 complex to two parcels the state recently purchased near Exit 7 in Berlin, adjacent to the Vermont State Police barracks.

Law said the parcels are higher than the Stevens Branch floodplain that has inundated the current Central Garage multiple times and added, "we have purchased a parcel. It actually sits right next to the Vermont State Police Barracks in Berlin. Up the hill, away from, the Stevens branch where we flooded, multiple times over the past few years." He described one nearby stream but said the new site has not flooded in recent years.

The relocation is intended to consolidate fleet maintenance, parts storage and management functions into a single, larger facility. Law said the plan would consolidate parts storage now scattered across multiple buildings and sites and house fleet-management staff, supervisors and offices currently displaced following floods at the 302 Complex. "We would be consolidating all that to 1 building right here," he said.

Why it matters: the move is framed as both a resilience project and an…