By Curt Peterson
There are at least three well-known reasons to focus on Quechee Road, a major route from Three Corners to Quechee: first, the condition of parts of the road is so bad it aggravates wear-and-tear on one’s vehicle. Second, band-aid patchwork and overall repaving for years have been very expensive with unsatisfactory results. Third, doing what is necessary to upgrade the road to safe and sustainable condition is so expensive the decision about what, and how much, to do is daunting for the Select Board.
A rough estimate to rebuild the road was about $6.5 million. An engineering report from Pathways Consulting, LLC, of Lebanon, rated sections of the road by how urgently they needed repairs or rebuilding.
Quechee Road’s potholes, broken pavement, and sinking edges are annoying and dangerous, and worse when there is snow and/or ice adding to the challenge. Much of the road requires a slower pace than the posted speed limit of 35 mph.
According to Scott Williams of Pathways, “Good sections may deteriorate over time, but are holding up well since their recent overlayment. But what is underneath those sections is unknown, so there’s no predicting their longevity.”
He said 3,000-3,500 feet of Quechee Road suffer badly from drainage, slope and ditching issues, producing damaging “ponding” during heavy rain.
Repaving over the bad parts will only buy time, he said, and the same problem will reoccur.
“It’s better to do major work on the worst sections now, so the investment will be less over the long run,” he said.
Ditching and culvert clearing, and adding up to 18-inches of stone are needed to bring the road up to state local highway standards.
On Monday, Dec. 16, the Select Board discussion centered around a $4 million estimate including major work on 3.2 miles of Quechee Road. To put in perspective, $4 million would be a $1,171 investment by every one of 3,500 Hartland residents.
The Select Board has to make multiple choices, including whether to put off the Quechee Road project for a year and just apply hot patch to the very sore parts of the road, or to follow Pathway’s advice and reconstruct the 3.2 mile stretch of bad road and patch the rest.
If the $4 million choice is made, financing will require a bond for that amount. According to Town Manager John Broker-Campbell, $28,000 per year would be required for principle on a 20-year bond, plus $53,000 for interest. He said the town is still waiting for $130,000 from FEMA for 2023 flood damage, and there are significant funds in the highway reserve account, both of which could finance just ditching and culvert work done by the town crew.
Selectman Tom Kennedy warned against trying to float a bond this year, as the property tax increase already has Hartlanders reeling.
“If the bond fails, it will be even more difficult to get it through next year,” he said.
Select Board chair Phil Hobbie is in favor of putting off any work that would require taking on debt this year.
“Let’s use existing funding to do the first phase — ditching and drainage work — and use this year to explain the project and warn about next year.”
He suggested dedicating upcoming meetings to education and discussion of the various ways to finance fixing Quechee Road.
