Road work | April 29-May 3
April 26, 2024 | By Lisa Scagliotti
A tractor-trailer stuck in the Notch in June 2021. Photo courtesy of Vermont State Police
The information in Road Work updates is compiled from Vermont Agency of Transportation road construction bulletins and announcements from local town Public Works and Highway Department officials.
AOT tries new approach to prevent Smugglers Notch “stuckages”
As a new summer driving season approaches, the Vermont Agency of Transportation announced this week that it will install new traffic control measures on Vermont Route 108 on both sides of Smugglers Notch in Stowe and Cambridge in an effort to stop tractor-trailers and other large vehicles from getting stuck in the curvy, narrow, rock-lined state road.
The agency in recent years has been working to try to reduce what have come to be referred to as “stuckages” in the Notch.
The road is typically closed for the winter season from about November until May. Despite Vermont statute prohibiting oversized vehicles from using the road, several large trucks each year get stuck attempting to traverse the Notch. Large vehicles proceed past warning signs and get stuck in the tight stretch, resulting in the road being impassable sometimes for hours before the vehicle can be removed.
Efforts to address the problem have led to a decline in the number of incidents, but they continue to occur, officials note. The traffic backups during the incidents prevent access to businesses and homes and impede emergency services to locations in the Stowe and Cambridge sections on either side of the mountain pass.
State transportation officials say they now are starting the process to install traffic controls called “chicanes” to help block portions of the roadway to prevent large vehicles from proceeding to spots where they can become stuck.
“We’ve completed various traffic engineering analyses and discussed the options with our partners, and there was a strong consensus that the chicanes are the best option,” said Todd Sears, Deputy Director of the Operations and Safety Bureau.
The chicanes will be temporary and consist of orange barrels and rubber curbs embedded in the roadway to create a new travel path. The aim is to force oversized vehicles to stop and turn around. In both cases, nearby ski area parking lots offer a spot for wayward large trucks to back up and turn around, Sears said.
Motorists will see work beginning soon as crews head to the sites to pave the roadway and complete other preparations for the installation of the chicanes. So far, Rt. 108 has not yet opened for through traffic for the season. Sears said VTrans would like to get the installations completed before the winter closure gates are opened. The project is expected to be completed with the chicanes operational by mid-May, officials said.
Transportation officials will study the effect of the temporary chicanes for 1-2 years. If they prove to be effective, permanent installations could be considered based on input from local and regional officials. Permanent chicanes could be designed to both stop trucks and “look attractive and blend into the roadway and landscape,” according to the announcement.
Sears said the past three years have seen an improvement in the number of “stuckages” in the Notch with five logged each year from 2021 through 2023. That’s down from 10 or 12 per year previously, he said.
This Agency of Transportation sketch shows plans for adding rubber curbing in the roadway and placing barrel chicanes in several spots in a stretch of Rt. 108 in Cambridge (to the right) before the Notch. Another area will have a similar installation on the Stowe side of the Notch, according to planners. Click to enlarge
State projects
Interstate 89/U.S. Rt. 2 bridge in Richmond
Due to ongoing bridge reconstruction on U.S. 2 in Richmond, motorists will encounter a single lane closure for both I-89 northbound and southbound passing lanes Monday-Friday, April 29-May 3, between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.
On Rt. 2 in the area of Bridge #29, drivers may encounter periodic lane closures with a traffic flagger present to allow for one lane of alternating travel.
U.S. Route 2 in Bolton and Richmond
Roadway resurfacing continues along U.S. Route 2. Motorists can expect traffic control present
allowing for alternating single-lane travel between Kenyon Road and Lemroy Court.