After more than a year of haggling, Federal, New Hampshire and Vermont transportation officials approved the final plans for a new, $10 million bridge to replace the current Ledyard Bridge. The new bridge will be about 62 feet wide.
New Hampshire and Vermont officials fought for several months over the width of the new bridge, which will span the Connecticut River between Hanover and Norwich, Vt. In January, New Hampshire and Vermont officials agreed to make the bridge 59-feet-10 inches wide.
But Vermont Governor Howard Dean requested a wider bridge for safety reasons, and the state officials agreed to change the planned bridge's width.
Robert Greer, director of Project Development for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, said he thinks the state will begin taking bids for the project in September, with construction beginning next summer.
Hanover Town Manager Cliff Vermilya said the bridge's construction will probably take two years, ending in the summer of 1998.
Lighting and landscaping around the bridge, which will be built about a half of a mile away from the current Ledyard Bridge, still have to be decided, Greer said.
New Hampshire and Vermont officials currently estimate the project will cost $10 million, $7.8 million of which will come from federal funds set aside in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991.
Greer said New Hampshire and Vermont will split the remaining $2.2 million.
But Vermilya said attempts by Republicans in the House of Representatives to trim the Federal budget may jeopardize the bridge's federal funding.
He said he hopes the bridge is far enough along that it will not be threatened by cutbacks. He said if the cutback bill presently in Congress is successful, then "you can believe we'll be lobbying."
It is important that the new bridge be built because the current bridge will not be safe beyond five years, Vermilya said. He said the weight limits for the bridge would have to be reduced again and school busses would not be able to use it.
The two states have been arguing over the new bridge --especially its width --for about the last year.
"Probably the biggest stumbling block was the width of the bridge," Greer said.
The width of the bridge has been changed three times in the last year-and-a-half. The bridge was originally planned to be 68 feet wide but was changed to 62 feet last September after Hanover and Norwich residents objected.
Residents in both Vermont and New Hampshire, concerned with the size of the bridge because of potential traffic and negative aesthetic and environmental aspects, pushed for a 55-foot span.
In December, Dean threatened to withdraw Vermont's support for the project unless New Hampshire officials addressed his desire to narrow the bridge from 62 feet to 59-feet-10 inches.
