Mudslide forces closure on Route 132

Tad Kingsbury with L&M Service Contractors uses an excavator to temporarily fill in a washout where a culvert needs to be replaced along Route 132 east of Furnace Flats Road in Strafford, Vt., on Monday, July 24, 2023. Route 132 between Tyson Road and Furnace Flats Road will be closed for the next four to six weeks while a crew from L&M tears out and replaces a section of the road where the embankment was washed out, compromising the stability of the pavement. (Valley News / Report For America - Alex Driehaus) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Tad Kingsbury with L&M Service Contractors uses an excavator to temporarily fill in a washout where a culvert needs to be replaced along Route 132 east of Furnace Flats Road in Strafford, Vt., on Monday, July 24, 2023. Route 132 between Tyson Road and Furnace Flats Road will be closed for the next four to six weeks while a crew from L&M tears out and replaces a section of the road where the embankment was washed out, compromising the stability of the pavement. (Valley News / Report For America - Alex Driehaus) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Alex Driehaus

Published: 07-25-2023 6:16 AM

SOUTH STRAFFORD — A section of Rte. 132 between Thetford and Strafford is closed for at least a month to allow for emergency repairs to prevent the road from sliding into the West Branch of the Ompompanoosuc River, according to a Sunday Listserv post from the Strafford Selectboard chairman. 

Coming from the South Strafford direction, Rte. 132 is closed at Tyson Road. From Thetford, Rte. 132 is closed at Furnace Flat Road, according to Strafford Selectboard Chairman John Freitag. For safety reasons, no vehicles, bikes or pedestrians are allowed in the construction area.

The repair is necessitated following damage incurred due to flooding earlier this month, said Jeff Solsaa, a Selectboard member who serves as the board’s highway liaison. The embankment has let go, comprising the support system for the highway, he said.

The road was initially reduced to one-way, but that was determined to be insufficient, in part due to a blind corner along the closed portion of the road, he said. The construction will require tearing the road out and building it up again.

During the closure, there is a marked detour using Mine Road in Strafford and Gove Hill Road in Thetford, which Solsaa estimates will likely lead to about a 10-minute delay for most motorists. 

Solsaa said he did not yet have an estimate for the cost of the construction, but he expects it will be fully federally funded.