By Brett Yates
On Sept. 13, the Chittenden Select Board approved a proposal to redesign the intersection of Holden Road and Dam Road, with a cost not to exceed $2,000.
Currently, drivers heading south on Holden Road approach a fork just below its junction with Mountain Top Road and the bridge over East Creek, bearing left to go northeast on Dam Road or right to go southwest as Dam Road becomes Chittenden Road. A planter marks the middle of the Y junction.
According to the board, the intersection tends to confuse out-of-state drivers, who often treat it as a free-flowing traffic circle, ignoring the stop sign on Dam Road. A conventional T intersection, with a stop sign on Holden Road, will replace this configuration. Dam Road, at least initially, will not have a stop sign. Road Commissioner Gary Congdon pitched the project after visiting the site with the town’s planning commission and seeing “how it’s used” by drivers. A hydrological concern raised by a nearby resident, who believes that the existing design contributes to flooding in their basement, provided additional impetus. The town aims to act quickly. Part of the project will require the services of a contractor, and Congdon hopes to add that portion of the job to the scope of work already scheduled to take place later this week, with Wilk Paving coming to town from Rutland.
“You might not see it this year if they have to come back, because they are that busy,” Congdon said. “The sooner it gets done, the better off we’re going to be.”
