Hartford voters to decide $4 million bond for retaining wall

A project involving Fairview Terrace and Gates Street in White River Junction, Vt., will go before voters next month on Election Day. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

A project involving Fairview Terrace and Gates Street in White River Junction, Vt., will go before voters next month on Election Day. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck) Valley News – Jennifer Hauck

A public hearing is to be held on Oct. 29, 2024, to consider a proposed $4.1 million bond to repair Fairview Terrace in White River Junction, Vt. A vote on the bond is scheduled for November 5. (Courtesy Town of Hartford)

A public hearing is to be held on Oct. 29, 2024, to consider a proposed $4.1 million bond to repair Fairview Terrace in White River Junction, Vt. A vote on the bond is scheduled for November 5. (Courtesy Town of Hartford) Courtesy town of hartford

By CHRISTINA DOLAN

Valley News Staff Writer

Published: 10-15-2024 8:31 PM

HARTFORD — A section of Gates Street might be reopened to vehicle traffic after years of closure should voters approve a $4 million highway improvement bond to stabilize retaining walls in the area.

The project, which involves parts of Fairview Terrace and Gates Street, will go before voters on upcoming Election Day, Nov. 5.

If approved, the project would create a pre-cast concrete block “toe wall” and a stabilized rock slope in the area extending roughly from above the Bugbee Senior Center to Church Street.

“Over time that slope has demonstrated that it’s in need of stabilization so that we can avoid future landslides into downhill properties,” Town Manager John Haverstock said by phone Tuesday.

The stabilization work would slightly narrow the section of Gates Street between Fairview Terrace and Maplewood Terrace. That section of roadway, which originally closed in 2017, would then open to one-way traffic going downhill, Haverstock said.

Slope erosion in the area above Maplewood Terrace has been a known issue since at least 2013, when the town commissioned an initial engineering study on the area. The project did not go forward at that time due to a “lack of consensus,” according to the project fact sheet.

In 2022, the Selectboard, at the recommendation of the Department of Public Works, hired Randolph-based engineering consultants DuBois & King to recommend stabilization options for the area. The town paid $240,000 to DuBois and King for its work.

The estimated $4 million cost for the project includes easement acquisitions and construction and engineering costs.

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The Selectboard voted at its Aug. 6 meeting to put the bond proposal on this year’s general election ballot rather than waiting until Town Meeting in March in order to expedite the project, Haverstock said. Construction is expected to take one to two years.

If voters OK the bond, the Selectboard could decide on either a 21-year or 31-year loan repayment period, according to a project fact sheet provided by the town. Repayment would begin in May 2025.

The current interest rate for a 21-year loan is, as of Monday, 3.64%. For a 31-year loan, the rate would be 3.98%, Haverstock said.

The estimated tax impact of the project was not available on Tuesday. 

In-person voting for the general election and the highway bond will take place on Nov. 5 in the Hartford High School gymnasium from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A public hearing and informational meeting on the Fairview Terrace project will be held Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. in Town Hall Room 1.

Voters may check their registration and absentee ballot status on the state’s My Voter Page at mvp.vermont.gov.

Christina Dolan can be reached at cdolan@vnews.com or 603-727-3208.