Middlebury College bucks up bridge with $18 million
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By Gordon Dritschilo Rutland Herald - Published: December 1, 2007
MIDDLEBURY — Talk of colleges and towns building bridges together is usually metaphorical.
But it's a physical bridge that Middlebury College announced Friday it will help the town fund. The college pledged $600,000 a year over the next 30 years — a total of $18 million — to span Otter Creek from Cross Street to the intersection of Main and College streets.
The total project is estimated at $16 million. College spokeswoman Sarah Ray said the school's donation came in response to a request from the town and is only to cover the cost of the bridge itself — $9 million — and associated bond payments.
"It's like a mortgage," Ray said. "You buy a house for $200,000, but over the course of time you're paying a lot more for it. … With this commitment by the college, the town is able to float the bond."
The remaining costs include property acquisition and associated engineering, such as upgrading nearby roads and placing a roundabout at the intersection of Routes 30 and 125.
College president Ronald Liebowitz issued a statement calling the project "integral to the safety of students, faculty, staff, other area residents, and to the betterment of the town."
A press release from the college also expressed hopes the project would stimulate development behind the Ilsley Library with a mixture of parking and additional retail, office and housing space.
The project, which could be complete by 2010, has been in the works for decades, according to Select Board Chairman John Tenny.
"I'm an old guy and this is very old," he said. "The town has only had the one full-service bridge in the whole last century."
While a bridge outside town helped relieve some of the pressure until it burned down in the 1950s, Tenny said Middlebury's main crossing over the creek has long been the two-lane bridge built by Joseph Petell in the early 1890s.
"That bridge carries, at its peak time, 16,000 vehicles a day," he said. "During the warm months, we're consistently in a traffic overload through the downtown and have been for years. … Certainly, this congestion we see is a very unpleasant experience, not just for motorists but also for pedestrians."
Not only will the new bridge ease the congestion, Tenny said it will also relieve a lingering safety concern.
"With one bridge, we've long had the potential crisis situation where if that bridge were for some reason out of service … you're blocking your way to cross Otter Creek."
The only other bridge in town is the Pulp Mill covered bridge on Seymour Street, which Tenny said is only suitable for cars and light trucks.
"It can't carry a fire truck, can't take an ambulance," he said. "They simply won't fit."
Tenny said the next step will be a vote in March authorizing the town to buy the necessary property — all or portions of four parcels expected to run a total of about $1.3 million. At the same time, Tenny said the board will ask voters to authorize roughly $1 million for bridge engineering and final design.
Tenny said he hopes to put the bond for the entire project in front of voters for final approval in 2009, with construction starting that year or the next, and vehicles crossing the new bridge in 2011.
Voters approved the location of the bridge first in 1992 and again last year. In March the town voted $50,000 for the board to purchase options on properties at the potential site.
"It's exciting," Tenny said of the effort's progress. "It's been really a very long struggle for us. … The college understood, appreciated the need. They certainly have stepped up and that's wonderful."
Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.
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