VTrans Places Priority On East-West Routes

(Host) Road reconstruction continues across Vermont's flood zone.

Rich Tetreault is the chief engineer for the Transportation Agency. He says VTrans is currently prioritizing east-west routes where many roads have been impassable. 

Tetrault says all state roads should be in good shape by winter.

(Tetreault) "Our goal is to have all the state highways traversable and safe and maintainable by our district forces. Now that can mean in some cases on the roads less traveled, so to speak, they may be gravel for a little longer than we'd hoped.  We hope to have them all resurfaced with asphalt though by the time snow flies or shortly after." 

(Host) Meeting that goal doesn't give the agency much time to reevaluate road placement. That will have to come next spring, when more permanent fixes are made. 

In the meantime, road crews are adjusting riverbeds, where necessary.  But, Tetreault  says, they're being very careful about interfering with the rivers.

(Tetrault) "What activity we take part in in the stream beds that are there, how we move or manipulate the material to reestablish a highway can have an effect on the flow of this new river, so to speak.  So where we pick the material, how we move some debris that's been now deposited in the river next to our highways, we're working with our partners in ANR to pick the right spot, to the best of our ability, in getting the stream to be more stable after we leave it for the winter."

(Host) VTrans is also working to keep the public updated on road conditions through its 511 website as the work progresses.