A resident of Old County Farm has offered to take on the cost of repairing the road’s historic bridge, though it would mean a portion of the road would be discontinued.
Discontinuing the road is a decision that could only be approved at Town Meeting by the public.
On Monday, the Select Board held a public hearing to receive feedback from the public on the proposal. Old County Farm Road connects Burton Highway and Route 101, and is mainly a Class V road, with a little less than a mile classified as Class VI. On the road is a historic dry stone arch bridge, which has been damaged due to drainage issues.
The town has discussed several options for the bridge, including shoring it up with a poured concrete retaining wall, using a pre-cast concrete replacement or simply closing the bridge to vehicle traffic altogether.
The least expensive repairs on the bridge, a retaining wall, would cost about $150,000, Selectman Matt Fish said, while a repair to the bridge’s historic arch would be far more expensive – $600,000 or more.
Fred Roedel, who owns the property on either side of the bridge, said he didn’t want to see the bridge closed or its historic nature destroyed.
“It’s a real gem for the community,” Roedel said. “That bridge is very important to us.”
Roedel said there are three homes beyond the bridge and Burton Highway, only two of which are lived in year-round. If the Roedel’s owned the bridge, the remainder of the road from the bridge to Burton Highway would be discontinued and essentially become a private driveway. He said he would be willing to give a permanent easement to other residents of the road to access the bridge, and said he had no issue with people walking on the road to visit the bridge but would want to limit vehicle traffic.
Residents who attended the meeting had mixed responses to the proposal.
“I want to see the bridge fixed, and I would love to see it fixed as close to historically accurate as possible,” resident Joe Torre said.
Torre said if the price for that was making the end portion of the road private, then he was for it.
Resident Alec MacMartin, however, cautioned the board against discontinuing the road. He said there may be other ways to repair the bridge to a historical standard that does not involve giving up the road. He suggested the town explore as a partnership with the Roedels to fix the bridge.
Selectmen said they would take the feedback into consideration in drafting a potential warrant article for a future Town Meeting.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.