Town Plan

Good morning! We have seen some big changes since our last update! On Thursday a subcontractor came in and installed all the new curb from Walnut Street to High Street. Green Mountain Power came in on Wednesday and installed two of our new street lights at the Walnut Street intersection and they look GREAT! To date, the contractor has completed all the sidewalk removal and electrical conduit installation from Walnut Street to High Street. The driveway crossings and many of the pedestrian ADA ramps have been installed.

Next week (there will be no work on Monday for Labor Day) the sidewalk subcontractor will be onsite to get all the new sidewalks installed from Walnut Street to High Street!

To reduce congestion on I-91, both Exit 3 on ramps will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 7 from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. I-91 will remain open.

I-91

See above re closure of the Exit 3 on ramps on Labor Day.

The blasting on the north side of the new bridge has been completed.

Northbound I-91 traffic has been relocated onto the southbound bridge. Traffic will remain reduced to one lane in each direction on I-91 until completion of the new bridge.

Monday, August 31, 6 p.m.
Brattleboro Municipal Center, Selectboard Meeting Room

This will be the first of two public hearings the Planning Commission will hold on the draft Brattleboro Land Use Regulations. The second hearing will be on Wednesday, September 9, also at 6 p.m. in the Selectboard Meeting Room.

The revised draft is available for review online and at the Brattleboro Planning Services Department, Town Clerk’s Office and the Brooks Memorial Library.This is an entirely new set of land use regulations that will affect the entire town, replacing the current Brattleboro Zoning Ordinance and Brattleboro Subdivision Regulations.

This is our fifth update on the Main Street Sidewalk Project. For those of you who are regularly downtown, you will have seen a flurry of activity!

This week curbing and sidewalk was removed all the way down to Centre Congregational Church. The contractor was able to install much of the conduit in that area for the underground electrical lines for the street lights. Green Mountain Power has completed the installation of the bases for the new light poles. The contractor has also began replacing some of the ramps and sidewalks in the areas across driveways on the northern end of the project. Our job site even survived the rain storm on Tuesday!

− Nonprofits Respond to Damage from Tropical Storm Irene−

Senator Patrick Leahy will join Brattleboro Housing Partnerships and Housing Vermont to celebrate the start of construction of new senior housing. Red Clover Commons, a 55-unit development located on Fairground Road, will replace public housing at Melrose Terrace which was damaged during Tropical Storm Irene. While that damage was repaired, it was clear that seniors and those with disabilities needed to be relocated to a safer site.

Blasting operations on the north side of the new bridge will resume the week of August 31. The target time for the blasts is weekdays between 1:30-2:00 pm. To ensure travelers’ safety, rolling roadblocks will be implemented on I-91, and traffic will be stopped for approximately 15 minutes at the Exit 2 northbound on-ramp and at the Exit 3 on-ramps in both directions. Sound impacts associated with the blasting will be minimal.

This is our fourth update for the Main Street Sidewalk Reconstruction Project. This week our contractor completed all the advanced warning signage installation around town.

The Public Works crew has been working closely with Green Mountain Power to get the new street lights installed as well. We currently have all of the concrete removed at the new pole locations and 11 of the light bases are installed.

Blasting operations on the north side of the new bridge have stopped temporarily, and will resume mid-week the week of the 23rd. The target time for the blasts is weekdays between 1:30-2:00 pm. To ensure travelers’ safety, rolling roadblocks will be implemented on I-91, and the Exit 2 northbound on-ramp and the Exit 3 on-ramps in both directions will be closed for approximately 15 minutes. Sound impacts associated with the blasting will be minimal.

I-91

See above re blasting scheduled for this week.

Notice of Brattleboro Planning Commission Public Hearings Proposed Brattleboro Land Use Regulations
Monday, August 31, 2015, Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Brattleboro Municipal Center

Pursuant to 24 VSA Section 4444, notice is hereby given that the Brattleboro Planning Commission will hold public two public hearings in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center, 230 Main Street in Brattleboro, Vermont on:

Monday, August 31, 2015 – 6:00 PM
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 – 6:00 PM

Blasting operations on the north side of the new bridge will continue this week, and for approx the following two weeks. The target time for the blasts is weekdays between 1:30-2:00 pm. To ensure travelers’ safety, rolling roadblocks will be implemented on I-91, and the Exit 2 northbound on-ramp and the Exit 3 on-ramps in both directions will be closed for approximately 15 minutes. Sound impacts associated with the blasting will be minimal.

I-91

See above re blasting scheduled for this week.

This is the third project update for the Town of Brattleboro’s Main Street Sidewalk Reconstruction Project. This update is getting sent out a little bit early this week to let you all know that on Wednesday, August 12, 2015, there will be a little bit of sawcutting taking place in the area near the Grove Street intersection (but still on the east side of Main Street).

Blasting Today

· The first blast will be at approximately 1:30 today.

· To ensure travelers’ safety, rolling roadblocks will be implemented on I-91 in each direction, and the on-ramps at Exits 2 Northbound and 3 in both directions will be closed for approximately 15 minutes.

· Traffic attempting to use Exits 2 and 3 on-ramps will be detoured to VT Route 5.

· Sound impacts associated with the blasting will be minimal.

Reminder: To help reduce congestion on I-91 during high traffic periods, VTrans will close both the Exit 3 on-ramps next three Sundays from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM: August 9, August 16, and August 23. Southbound traffic will be routed to Exit 1, and northbound traffic attempting to use the Exit 3 on ramp will be routed north on Route 5 to Exit 4. Officers will be on hand to control traffic. I-91 will remain open.

Cindy Cook
Principal, Adamant Accord, Inc.
Past Vice President, Association for Conflict Resolution

This is the second update for the Main Street Sidewalk Reconstruction Project. This week we continued preparatory work for the major construction by installing advanced warning signage around town and also by sawcutting the roadway and sidewalk. Although this may seem like a noisy and messy operation, it actually allows the contractor to remove the sidewalk in a much neater fashion. This will really help get those big slabs of concrete out smoothly in the tight locations.

The PCL+FIGG Team will conduct the next on-site “trail talk” for the Public on Saturday, August 8, 2015. There has been a lot of exciting progress at the I-91 Brattleboro Bridge project site, which will be shared with attendees. The talks will originate at the West River Trail near the marina. The trail talk will be led by Caleb Linn, Project Manager for PCL (lead contractor) and Garrett Hoffman, Design Manager for FIGG (bridge designer).

Interested participants should meet the PCL+FIGG Team at the West River Trail trailhead on Saturday, August 8, 2015, at 8 a.m. and the talk will begin at 8:15 a.m. Participants will walk the trail to the I-91 bridge site, so please wear appropriate clothing and footwear.

To help reduce congestion on I-91 during high traffic periods, VTrans will close both the Exit 3 on-ramps on the next three Sundays:August 9, August 16, and August 23 from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Southbound traffic will be routed to Exit 1, and northbound traffic attempting to use the Exit 3 on ramp will be routed north on Route 5 to Exit 4. Officers will be on hand to control traffic. I-91 will remain open.

Cindy Cook
Public Information Officer
Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project

Blasting operations on the north side of the new bridge will begin on August 6th or 7th. Roughly 15 separate 10-minute blasts will be needed to complete the work. The blasting will be conducted on weekdays for approximately 3 weeks; the target time for the blasts is between 1:30-2:00 pm. The contractor will need 5 minutes to verify clear lanes of travel. To ensure travelers’ safety, rolling roadblocks will be implemented on I91 in each direction. Sound impacts associated with the blasting will be minimal. More details to follow.

I-91

See above re blasting scheduled to start on August 6th or 7th.

Blasting operations on the north side of the new bridge will begin the week of August 3rd. Roughly 15 separate 10-minute blasts will be needed to complete the work. The blasting will be conducted on weekdays for approximately 3 weeks; the target time for the blasts is between 1:30-2:00 pm. The contractor will need 5 minutes to verify clear lanes of travel. To ensure travelers’ safety, rolling roadblocks will be implemented on I91 in each direction. Sound impacts associated with the blasting will be minimal. More details to follow.

I-91

Please see above re blasting scheduled to start the week of August 3rd.

I-91

Northbound I-91 traffic has been relocated onto the southbound bridge. Traffic will remain reduced to one lane in each direction on I-91 until completion of the new bridge. The new bridge will be 104’ wide and is designed to carry all four lanes of traffic –two northbound and two southbound.

Route 30

Night work adjacent to Route 30 will continue this week, but will not affect traffic.

The speed limit on Route 30 near the work zone has been reduced to 40 mph. Project-related truck activity on Route 30 will continue. Route 30 will be reduced to a single lane intermittently both day and night, with flaggers regulating traffic within the work zone.

I-91

On Sunday, July 12, the Southbound lane of I-91 between Exits 3 and 2 and the Exit 3 on-ramps will be closed to all vehicles from 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM to make it possible to conduct a routine bridge inspection. This time period was selected because it is the period of lowest traffic volume during the daylight hours needed to conduct the inspection. Southbound traffic will be routed to Exit 1, and Northbound traffic attempting to use the Exit 3 on ramp will be routed north on Route 5 to Exit 4. Officers will be on hand to control traffic. I-91 Northbound will remain open.