By Curt Peterson
Drivers on Route 4 in Quechee have been calling the bridge over the gorge “Grumble Strip.” During busy times and tourist season, it can take several minutes to negotiate the way through the traffic signal and the single lane to the other end.
Grumblers have a lot of company in their misery as 9,000 vehicles use the bridge every day, according to VTrans data. Beside normal local traffic, tourism is an important part of Quechee Gorge traffic — there is a state park, a tourism center, a foot path into the gorge and a cluster of retail businesses to serve visitors.
The 1911 arched steel span was originally built to carry rail traffic.
The current work started in April 2024 and involves major rehabilitation of the entire bridge structure at a projected cost of $20.8 million. Planners originally hoped to keep two lanes open during construction, but there wasn’t the necessary road width. Currently, alternating traffic in the westbound lane is controlled by traffic lights at each end – hence the delays.
The project will continue for two or three years, according to VTrans, but work will proceed only during construction season. It was hoped that the rehabbed eastbound lane could be opened this fall, but inspectors discovered major corrosion in some steel components, causing predictions of further delays – the eastbound lane will remain unusable until next spring.
Pedestrians wishing to look down into the gorge will also be limited to one side of the bridge. The project includes improvements to sidewalk length and safety.
Among the bridge improvements will be increased safety for pedestrians.
This is in part a result of a tragedy on July 4, 2011, when 21-year-old Hartlander, Derek Cooper, easily climbed the simple fence on the eastbound side of the bridge and fell to his death 165 feet below, where the Ottauquechee River tumbles through the narrow, stone-sided gorge.
Derek’s mother, Regi Cooper, provided a written condemnation of safety features of the bridge.
“According to a witness, Derek climbed over the railing, and attempted to climb back over to the roadside. But Derek couldn’t pull himself over the top railing on this bridge because the railing is curved in such a way, at such an angle, that does not allow people to pull themselves back up and over to the roadside. There are no second chances with this bridge,” Cooper wrote.
VTrans’s first response was to hang horizontal nets from the bridge — any one jumping would be caught in the nets. Tall metal fences meant to dissuade climbing were later installed.
