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Select Board OKs moving Depot Street bridge replacement to final design
Summary
VTrans and Hoyle Tanner presented a plan to replace the 1926 Depot Street (Bridge 32) truss with a new steel‑girder bridge; the board voted to advance the project into final design after hearing schedule, funding and traffic‑management details.
The Jamaica Select Board on July 13 voted to let state transportation officials move the Depot Street Bridge replacement project into final design after a public information presentation by VTrans and consultant Hoyle Tanner.
Kelly Levine, Hoyle Tanner project manager for the contract with VTrans, described the existing 1926 steel‑truss bridge as one‑lane and posted for 8‑ton loads and said her team proposes a new steel‑girder bridge with a concrete deck, widened approaches and guardrail to improve turning movements for trucks. "Construction cost estimate, 7,500,000," Levine said during the presentation, and she emphasized environmental constraints including wetlands, floodplain, rare species timing windows and archaeological sensitivity that shape the work windows.
VTrans project manager Gary LaRoche told the board the construction package is funded through the IIJA program and that the project is in the agency’s multi‑year queue. He and Levine said traffic will be maintained on a temporary upstream bridge configured for alternating, one‑way traffic controlled by temporary signals at each end, and that the temporary structure and the proposed bridge will be designed to an H L 93 load rating (the standard used for highway bridges).
Chair moved the motion to proceed to final design on the basis of the presentation and opened the item for discussion; no board members objected. The board conducted a voice vote and the chair declared the motion passed. The boards’ concurrence allows VTrans to begin property owner outreach, environmental permitting and other final‑design tasks.
Levine gave a target schedule that includes final plans by April 2027, contract plans submitted in fall 2029, and construction beginning in spring 2030 with a two‑to‑three year construction window depending on environmental permitting and federal NEPA/Section 4(f) clearances. She warned the timeline is on a critical path that includes Washington‑level approvals for certain permits. The board noted that, while construction is federally funded, the town will own the bridge after construction and therefore remain responsible for long‑term maintenance.
Next steps: VTrans will continue final design and begin direct outreach to property owners identified near the project corridor. The board asked to receive updates as final plans and environmental work progress.
