Sen. White urges reprioritizing bridge projects, seeks funding for Fox Van bridge and Redding garage

Sen. White asked the Senate Transportation committee on April 15 to make an exception to normal practice and fund two specific local projects — the Fox Van (Royalton) bridge and a timber-frame public works garage in Redding — arguing the state’s project-prioritization process is allowing critical local needs to fall through the cracks.

"I think our project prioritization process is broken," Sen. White said, telling committee members she had never before asked for specific projects but that unusual circumstances and community harm justified doing so now. She cited a citizen report that said the bridge’s closure lengthened emergency medical service travel times for about 80 residents and forced the closure of a farm stand and a hairdresser.

The senator asked the committee to fully fund the Fox Van bridge through language in her amendment that would add the "Royalton Bridge Trust Project" (referred to in the record as 'Bridge 30'). She also described a Redding town garage project that would complement a Northern Borders grant, provide a salt shed and support the local forest-products sector.

Daniel Leonard, legislative counsel, provided preliminary cost figures on the record: an additional state amount of $1,440,000, a $565,000 local match and a $9,000,000 federal match for related work; committee staff later clarified the Fox Van bridge work is roughly an $11 million project overall. (Leonard presented those numbers on the committee record.)

Agency staff pushed back on the idea of creating project-specific earmarks in the transportation bill. Jeremy Reed, identified in the record as the agency’s chief engineer, said the agency would oppose inserting discrete projects into the bill because doing so would undermine the Transportation Asset Management (TAM) process and jeopardize federal consistency and certification. Reed also disputed that the agency "missed" inspections on the bridge, saying VTrans inspected the structure in 2020, 2022 and 2024 and that each inspection showed accelerating deterioration.

"We would oppose that," Reed said, adding that temporary bridges can increase a town’s share of costs (from 5% to 10%, roughly a $600,000 impact in one cited case) and can raise preservation or NEPA questions if used to avoid historic-structure reviews. He also said VTrans has moved money and accelerated the project schedule with a target of completing construction in 2028, but that NEPA and right-of-way work remain necessary hurdles.

Joe Flynn, the secretary of transportation, said for the record he "respectfully take[s] great exception" to the characterization that VTrans is untrustworthy or that its system is broken. Flynn said the agency publishes an annual "white book" that shows project delays and that while outreach could improve, Vermonters should be able to trust VTrans’s integrity in managing statewide infrastructure.

After discussion about the timing and feasibility of construction, Sen. White said she was "happy to withdraw" her amendment for now, while stressing the need for clearer prioritization and better town engagement in the future. Chair West asked staff to draft bill language reflecting the chosen fiscal column and to prepare potential floor amendments; members indicated the bill will next move to finance for further review.

The committee did not take a formal vote on Sen. White’s amendment during the discussion. Follow-up items recorded for staff included retrieving precise counts of closed and temporary bridges statewide, confirming the detailed cost breakdowns, and producing language options for sections 8 and 9 of the bill to reflect committee direction.