ROYALTON — Residents expressed frustration with the Selectboard this week following the board’s recent decision not to construct a temporary bridge at Fox Stand Bridge, also known as Royalton Hill Bridge.

“This has gone well past being an inconvenience,” Royalton resident Tyler LaGrange, said at a Selectboard meeting on Tuesday.

The bridge has been closed since April 2024, when a Vermont Agency of Transportation, or VTrans, inspection revealed that rust had corroded its gusset plates, which join beams together.

Drivers of the bridge, which spans 165 feet across the White River, connecting Route 14 to Royalton Hill Road and Gilman Road, have been using unpaved alternate routes since.

The delay and increased cost for the bridge repairs came from updated inspections revealing that bedrock support was deeper than expected at the temporary bridge location.

After subsurface bedrock inspections, VTrans updated Royalton that the temporary bridge would be further delayed until spring of 2026 and would cost $150,000.

In an effort to reduce costs to taxpayers and limit the project’s overall duration, the Selectboard voted 4-1 to forgo the temporary bridge at a meeting on June 24.

Under Act 153 (2012), a town’s share of project costs is reduced by 50% if no temporary bridge is built while the bridge closed to traffic is under construction.

Putting in a temporary bridge would have increased Royalton’s share of the cost of the permanent bridge, and would have brought the town’s total bill up to $750,000, according to a handout provided at Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting.

In total, without a temporary bridge, the cost of the entire project to Royalton is estimated at $300,000.

Opting for the temporary bridge also would have delayed the permanent bridge’s construction to at least 2030 — as it would drop down Vermont’s list of towns needing bridge work.

Forgoing the temporary bridge, the permanent bridge is estimated to be constructed by the summer of 2028.

Meanwhile, extra traffic on the alternate backroads has created a general distress for people living along them.

“The traffic is terrifying,” Laurie Hudson said in a Selectboard meeting on June 24. “I’m scared to just walk my dog on the side of the road.”

Hudson also is struggling as the owner of Hitching Post Farm, a horseback riding school on Back River Road, a detour of Royalton Hill Road. “I don’t even want to be in business right now,” she said.

Residents also blamed the unpaved alternate routes, Back River Road and North River Road, for damage to their cars.

Karen Allen, who’s lived in Royalton for 12 years, said she has gotten three flat tires on the alternate North Road, which is under construction. 

“It’s just gotten more and more stressful every time I turn around,” Allen said at Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting.

Residents had previously been informed along the way, largely due to social media updates from the former town administrator, Victoria Pacquin. But after the board’s decision on the temporary bridge, residents felt they had been left in the dark.

“Imagine my surprise when last week I read in the White River Valley Herald that you guys met two weeks ago and had bridge related discussions, and made unexpected bridge-related decisions,” LaGrange said.

Members of the Selectboard said they felt they felt they had no good option.

“We were faced with two bad choices, and this is the one that we chose at that time,” Selectboard Chairman Patrick Dakin said at the meeting.

Some residents, however, would accept the increased taxes for a more immediate solution. “I’m ready to sign off on that,” LaGrange said at Tuesday’s meeting, “I vote yes, we spend that extra money.”

Built in response to infrastructure damage from the Great Flood of 1927, swaths of bridges across the region are exceeding their original design life, VTrans spokeswoman Amy Tatko wrote in an email.

This is putting a high demand on bridge repair and replacement across the state.

As town officials investigate alternatives, they encourage affected residents to pressure the Governor’s Office with letters.

Lukas Dunford can be reached at ldunford@vnews.com or 603-727-3208.

CORRECTION: In support of installing a temporary bridge at the location of the Fox Stand Bridge in Royalton, which has been closed for more than a year, resident Tyler LaGrange said, “I’m ready to sign off on that. I vote yes, we spend that extra money.” A previous version of this story misattributed the quote.