Fwd: Can two towns preserve the bridges that connected them?

[Charles Coldwell]

The story about the Hinsdale, NH/Brattleboro, VT bridges crossing the Connecticut River might be of interest. Many of us have crossed those bridges on brevets.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: The Boston Globe <newsl...@bostonglobe.com>
Date: Mon, Sep 15, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Subject: Can two towns preserve the bridges that connected them?
To: <cold...@gmail.com>

From Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Opinion deputy editor

The future of getting around By Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Opinion Staff Can two small New England towns preserve the bridges that connected them? The possible demolition of two rusty bridges in a rural part of New England may not concern you much. But there’s a distressing story in why the town of Hinsdale, N.H., wants to tear down the two historic bridges that linked it to Brattleboro, Vt. for a century. The bridges were decommissioned last year and replaced with a modern bridge just down the Connecticut River. For years, the neighboring towns had been planning to reuse the old road spans as a pedestrian and bicycle link once the new bridge opened, while turning the island in the middle of the river into a park.  That vision would have created a unique adaptive-reuse attraction, a sort of miniature version of New York City’s High Line in the Connecticut River Valley. Local restaurants talked about setting up tables on the bridges, which connect directly to downtown Brattleboro. Planners imagined an amphitheater for the island to draw tourists and generate economic growth; a kayak launch; a fishing pier. The “Hinsdale-Brattleboro Greenway” also would have preserved the two bridges themselves, steel truss structures that were once common in American cities but are now increasingly rare and historically protected. But now that whole vision is in jeopardy.  One of two steel-truss bridges connecting the towns of Brattleboro, Vt., (left) and Hinsdale, N.H. (right). The bridges carried Route 119 over the Connecticut River until last year, when a new bridge to the south of the old spans opened. (Image from Google Maps) Partly, this is just the usual story of states failing to take non-car infrastructure seriously. The state of New Hampshire already has $9 million set aside for the project, but told the communities it wouldn’t actually get around to rehabbing the bridges for two years. It also wouldn’t commit any money to maintaining or policing the bridges in the future, leaving Hinsdale officials concerned they’d end up shouldering the cost, since the bridges are mostly on the New Hampshire side of the border (for obscure historical reasons involving King Charles II and the US Supreme Court, the state boundary is not in the middle of the river, as is typical).  Hinsdale hadn’t expected that expense, and doesn’t want it. “The select board are pretty adamant that they do not want this to be a tax burden for years to come,” said Kathryn Lynch, town administrator in Hinsdale. Lynch, who served on the committees that brainstormed what to do with the old bridges, said it was always understood that “we wouldn’t be footing the bill.” That does seem fair. Any immediate recreational and economic development benefits from the greenway would likely happen mostly on the Vermont side of the bridge; Hinsdale’s main business district is miles away, while Brattleboro’s is right at the foot of the bridge to the west of the island.  Still, if money were the only obstacle, there seemingly ought to be a way for the two towns, and the two states, to strike a deal that fairly aligns the costs with the benefits — maybe by creating a bridge authority, or bringing in a nonprofit to manage the bridge. Brett Morrison, who organized a volunteer group named The Friends of Island Park, said that if the towns don't reach an agreement, a nonprofit or private developer “could take over the island and deal with the security questions so it’s not on the town of Hinsdale.” Morrison also said that moving the state border could be a way of taking Hinsdale off the hook for the costs. But money is pretty clearly not the sole obstacle. For reasons that are hotly debated, and way outside the scope of this newsletter, Brattleboro has a serious drug and homelessness problem. Encampments are common, along with panhandling and open drug use. There have been several murders recently, including the gruesome killing of a social worker.  Not surprisingly, Hinsdale doesn’t want those problems crossing the river. Lynch told me that Hinsdale had already had to step up police patrols since cars stopped using the bridges. The police, she said, have been “been monitoring [the area] pretty steadily because a lot of people have been entering and doing things they shouldn’t be doing, illegal activity.” Although there is now a barrier to prevent people from crossing the bridges, I was told that some are doing so anyway. For more than a decade, residents of both towns have expressed interest in turning the old bridge into a bike and pedestrian crossing. (Image from Google Maps.)  Even Brattleboro officials are pointing fingers at Brattleboro’s problems for the possible demise of the plan. “I feel the shock and awe that Hinsdale is experiencing when they're coming to terms with what Brattleboro deals with on a daily basis,” said Elizabeth McLoughlin, the chair of the Brattleboro select board, at a meeting in July. “That’s why we can’t have nice things.”  As things stand now, the towns are being careful not to criticize each other, and are still attempting to get on the same page. (If you’re interested, the Brattleboro Reformer and other local media outlets have covered the fate of the bridges extensively.) Lynch said the towns would be meeting with New Hampshire state officials in person soon. The bridges can’t be torn down unless both towns agree.  The public safety concerns in Brattleboro are real. But it would be wrong to assume they are permanent. And it would be a triumph of short-term thinking if they sank a project that could yield decades of benefits. And while it’s easy for me to say as someone who doesn’t pay taxes in either town or either state, finding some way to fund them could create a legacy for the whole region. As more than one person told me, once the bridges are torn down, they’re gone — nobody will ever rebuild them.  Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here. Inbound Boston area transportation news. People of color are much more likely to be struck by a car in Boston, a Globe analysis finds. Authorities shut down a bridge over the train tracks in Roslindale, after finding it was in worse condition than previously known. The T is debuting “retro” locomotives painted with the logos of the companies that operated the commuter rail lines decades ago. Seen following a new paint job, this overhauled commuter rail locomotive was painted maroon and yellow to pay tribute to the Boston and Maine Railroad. (Courtesy of MBTA) Outbound National and international transportation news. “I think that there’s a lot of risk around it failing”: After a promising start, the planned Las Vegas to Los Angeles high-speed rail project encounters headwinds.  An amusing article in the New York Times reports on an opinion poll that shows residents of New York City both do and do not support fare-free buses, depending on how the question is asked. Responding to the stabbing of a passenger on a light rail train in Charlotte, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says there is an “epidemic of violence and homelessness” on the nation’s transit systems — though, as the New Republic points out, you’re more likely to encounter crime, including road rage and carjacking, behind the wheel.  A Charlotte Area Transit System light rail departs a station. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco) Truss me This week’s challenge map features five Google Street Views images of places in Boston. You need to pinpoint where they are. Feel free to move around as much as you want to look for clues; the score is based on how close your guess is to the actual location. Congrats to the high scorer on last week’s map, MapQuestr321.  The big dig Deep dives that catch my eye Fifteen years ago, streetcars were the future. Now the streetcar revival is running out of steam, reports Governing magazine, as cities that invested in the old-fashioned form of urban transit to spur growth start realizing there was a reason they were abandoned in the first place back in the 20th century. Streetcars are slow, expensive, and — the biggest problem — tied to their tracks, unable to maneuver through traffic or around double parkers. In Washington, where the construction of a single streetcar line took umpteen years and $200 million, the line is set to be replaced after only a decade of use — by a bus. Contribute your thoughts, questions, complaints, and wildest visions for transportation in the Boston area and across New England. You're receiving this newsletter because of your interest in news and insights about the future of transportation in Boston and New England. You’ll receive weekly e-mails with bold ideas from Globe Opinion of what the region’s transportation systems could look like. We hope you'll follow along, but you can opt-out of this newsletter here. Copyright © 2025 Boston Globe Media Partners LLC, All rights reserved. Boston Globe Media Partners LLC 1 Exchange Pl Boston, MA 02109-2803 Add us to your address book View in Browser | Update Your Preferences | Unsubscribe  Manage Your Account | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Help Center | Advertise You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the newsletter, submitted your e-mail address to read stories on Globe.com, have engaged with related content on Globe.com, subscribe to a related Boston Globe newsletter, and/or are a Boston Globe digital access subscriber. Follow this link if you would like to opt-out of this newsletter.

--

Charles M. Coldwell, W1CMC
Belmont, Massachusetts, New England, FN42jj
"Turn on, log in, tune out"

[Jake Kassen]

Thanks for posting this. I rode across the now car-less bridge over the summer and it was great. It looks like the new highway bridge has a wide enough shoulder for cycling but it wasn't designed with bike provisions specifically.

There's an old RR bridge a bit further down river which basically connects to the unpaved, minimally maintained bike trail in NH that almost goes to the MA border. If you've adventurous you can hoof a bike across the bridge into VT. I know there was some talk (hope) that maybe this could be restored for bike/ped use and the trail be improved. For the purposes of cycling, that would be preferable to maintaining the old highway bridge into Brattleboro since you could avoid most of Rt. 119 entirely if the bridge was reopened. But that seems even less likely to happen given the dispute between the states.

This history of the VT/NH boundary is interesting too. Twice VT tried to get ownership to the middle of the CT river and both times the Supreme Court ruled that, no, NH owns the entire river.

Jake

> -------Original Message-------
> From: Charles Coldwell <cold...@gmail.com>
> To: New England Randonneurs <ne-rand...@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: [NER] Fwd: Can two towns preserve the bridges that connected them?
> Sent: 15 Sep '25 07:42
>
> The story about the Hinsdale, NH/Brattleboro, VT bridges crossing the
> Connecticut River might be of interest. Many of us have crossed those
> bridges on brevets.
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: THE BOSTON GLOBE <newsl...@bostonglobe.com>
> Date: Mon, Sep 15, 2025 at 7:04?AM
> Subject: Can two towns preserve the bridges that connected them?
> To: <cold...@gmail.com>
>
> From Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Opinion deputy editor
>

> THE FUTURE OF GETTING AROUND

>
> By Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Opinion Staff
>

> CAN TWO SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWNS PRESERVE THE BRIDGES THAT CONNECTED
> THEM?

>
> The possible demolition of two rusty bridges in a rural part of New
> England may not concern you much.
>

> But there's a distressing story in _why_ the town of Hinsdale, N.H.,

> wants to tear down the two historic bridges that linked it to
> Brattleboro, Vt. for a century.
>
> The bridges were decommissioned last year and replaced with a modern
> bridge just down the Connecticut River. For years, the neighboring
> towns had been planning to reuse the old road spans as a pedestrian
> and bicycle link once the new bridge opened, while turning the island
> in the middle of the river into a park.
>
> That vision would have created a unique adaptive-reuse attraction, a
> sort of miniature version of New York City's High Line in the
> Connecticut River Valley. Local restaurants talked about setting up
> tables on the bridges, which connect directly to downtown Brattleboro.
> Planners imagined an amphitheater for the island to draw tourists and
> generate economic growth; a kayak launch; a fishing pier. The
> "Hinsdale-Brattleboro Greenway" also would have preserved the two
> bridges themselves, steel truss structures that were once common in
> American cities but are now increasingly rare and historically
> protected.
>
> But now that whole vision is in jeopardy.
>

> For more than a decade, residents of both towns have expressed
> interest in turning the old bridge into a bike and pedestrian
> crossing. (Image from Google Maps.)
>
> Even Brattleboro officials are pointing fingers at Brattleboro's
> problems for the possible demise of the plan. "I feel the shock and
> awe that Hinsdale is experiencing when they're coming to terms with
> what Brattleboro deals with on a daily basis," said Elizabeth
> McLoughlin, the chair of the Brattleboro select board, at a meeting in
> July. "That's why we can't have nice things."
>
> As things stand now, the towns are being careful not to criticize
> each other, and are still attempting to get on the same page. (If
> you're interested, the Brattleboro Reformer and other local media
> outlets have covered the fate of the bridges extensively.) Lynch said
> the towns would be meeting with New Hampshire state officials in
> person soon. The bridges can't be torn down unless both towns agree.
>
> The public safety concerns in Brattleboro are real. But it would be
> wrong to assume they are permanent. And it would be a triumph of
> short-term thinking if they sank a project that could yield decades of
> benefits. And while it's easy for me to say as someone who doesn't pay
> taxes in either town or either state, finding some way to fund them
> could create a legacy for the whole region.
>
> As more than one person told me, once the bridges are torn down,
> they're gone — nobody will ever rebuild them.
>
> Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here.
>

> INBOUND
>
> Boston area transportation news.
>
> * People of color are much more likely to be struck by a car in

> Boston, a Globe analysis finds.

> * Authorities shut down a bridge over the train tracks in

> Roslindale, after finding it was in worse condition than previously
> known.

> * The T is debuting "retro" locomotives painted with the logos of

> the companies that operated the commuter rail lines decades ago.
>

> Seen following a new paint job, this overhauled commuter rail
> locomotive was painted maroon and yellow to pay tribute to the Boston
> and Maine Railroad. (Courtesy of MBTA)
>

> OUTBOUND

>
> National and international transportation news.
>

> *

>
> "I think that there's a lot of risk around it failing": After a
> promising start, the planned Las Vegas to Los Angeles high-speed rail
> project encounters headwinds.

> *

>
> An amusing article in the New York Times reports on an opinion poll
> that shows residents of New York City both do and do not support

> fare-free buses, depending on how the question is asked. * Responding

> to the stabbing of a passenger on a light rail train in Charlotte,
> Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says there is an "epidemic of
> violence and homelessness" on the nation's transit systems — though,
> as the New Republic points out, you're more likely to encounter crime,
> including road rage and carjacking, behind the wheel.
>

> A Charlotte Area Transit System light rail departs a station. (AP
> Photo/Erik Verduzco)
>

> TRUSS ME

>
> This week's challenge map features five Google Street Views images
> of places in Boston. You need to pinpoint where they are. Feel free to
> move around as much as you want to look for clues; the score is based
> on how close your guess is to the actual location. Congrats to the
> high scorer on last week's map, MapQuestr321.
>

> THE BIG DIG

>
> Deep dives that catch my eye
>
> Fifteen years ago, streetcars were the future. Now the streetcar
> revival is running out of steam, reports Governing magazine, as cities
> that invested in the old-fashioned form of urban transit to spur
> growth start realizing there was a reason they were abandoned in the
> first place back in the 20th century. Streetcars are slow, expensive,
> and — the biggest problem — tied to their tracks, unable to
> maneuver through traffic or around double parkers. In Washington,
> where the construction of a single streetcar line took umpteen years
> and $200 million, the line is set to be replaced after only a decade
> of use — by a bus.
>
> Contribute your thoughts, questions, complaints, and wildest visions
> for transportation in the Boston area and across New England.
>
> You're receiving this newsletter because of your interest in news and
> insights about the future of transportation in Boston and New England.
> You'll receive weekly e-mails with bold ideas from Globe Opinion of
> what the region's transportation systems could look like. We hope
> you'll follow along, but you can opt-out of this newsletter here.
>
> Copyright © 2025 Boston Globe Media Partners LLC, All rights
> reserved.
>
> Boston Globe Media Partners LLC
>

> 1 Exchange PlBoston, MA 02109-2803

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> to a related Boston Globe newsletter, and/or are a Boston Globe
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>
> Follow this link if you would like to opt-out of this newsletter.
>

> --
>
> Charles M. Coldwell, W1CMC
> Belmont, Massachusetts, New England, FN42jj
> "Turn on, log in, tune out"
>

> --
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>

[Andy G]

I have a local bridge debacle in Dover, NH too. Route 16 (and Rt 4) crosses Newington/Dover. The old span was opened about 100 years ago, and closed to cars about 40 years ago but remained open for people to  walk/bike across - it was mostly great, except for a complete lack of maintenance. Eventually another highway span was built for a total of 3 bridges. Then suddenly an inspection yielded the old bike bridge unsafe resulting in immediate closure. For 1.5 years I had to commute an extra 5 miles through Maine if I wanted to go by bike.

There was a hope that for (the low cost of only...) $40 Million, that old bridge could be replaced. NHDOT is pretty awful about anything that's not build for cars though, so feet were dragged for several years until they eventually spent close to $1M to make one of the highway lanes divided with concrete barriers so there was once again bike access. By the time the new bridge was put out to bid, the only bid was over $80M. Cue the FB comments of why we'd spend that much for just a few people the bike across the bridge. They removed as much as they could from the bid in hopes to make it cheaper, and resulted in a bid that was only more expensive (yay inflation!). 

I have my doubts that a new bridge will ever be built there, but at least traffic has remained low enough that the highway lane looks like it will basically be permanent (until it's not).

Andy in Dover, NH