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Selectboard greenlights final design for Depot Street bridge replacement
Summary
VTrans and consultant Hoyle Tanner told the Jamaica Select Board that Bridge 42 will be replaced by a federally funded steel‑girder bridge; the board voted to let the project move into final design. The estimate is $7.5 million with construction currently slated to start in 2030.
The Jamaica Select Board voted July 13 to give its concurrence for VTrans and consultant Hoyle Tanner to move the Depot Street (Bridge 42) project into final design after a public information presentation.
Kelly Levine, Hoyle Tanner project manager, said the existing 1926 steel truss will be replaced with a steel‑girder bridge and concrete deck designed to current standards. “The bridge is 160 feet long and 26 feet out to out,” she said, adding the new span will include a single 12‑foot travel lane with 5‑foot shoulders and guardrail. She told the board the preferred load standard is HL‑93 so legal and heavy loads—“like an 80,000‑pound tractor‑trailer”—will be able to cross the new structure.
Levine and Gary LaRoche of VTrans described numerous environmental constraints—wetlands, floodplain, rare/threatened species and archaeological sensitivity—and said traffic will be maintained on a temporary one‑way alternating bridge upstream during construction. On the appearance and maintenance tradeoffs, Levine recommended metallized girders over paint because metallizing lasts about 75 years, while paint requires repainting roughly every 25 years; she said repainting a bridge of this size can cost upwards of $200,000.
Project funding and schedule were central to discussion. Levine presented a construction estimate of $7,500,000 and said the construction phase is 100% federally funded through IIJA programming. She outlined a planning timeline that targets final plans in 2027, advertising and bidding in fall 2029, and construction beginning in spring 2030 with a preliminary three‑year window (2030–2032); presenters said they are working to compress that to two years where feasible.
After board members asked about inspection history and contingency planning if deterioration accelerates, Chair moved that the board approve proceeding into final design. The motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. Selectboard members and VTrans staff said the town will be kept informed during right‑of‑way and environmental permitting work.
