The New Hampshire Department of Transportation has appointed two commissions to conduct a series of meetings about replacing two state highway bridges in Andover. The first bridge to be replaced will be the Rte 11 bridge near Dyer’s Crossing. In a subsequent project, planning for replacement of the Rte 4 bridge near Fenvale Road will begin later this year.
The bridge project on Rte 11 actually involves a pair of bridges, one obvious bridge with railings that crosses the Northern Rail Trail, and a second less-obvious concrete bridge a few feet to the east (resembling a large culvert) that carries Rte 11 over Sucker Brook. Both of these bridges have essentially reached the end of their 100-year life expectancy. When they were designed and built in 1929, cars were driven nowhere near as fast as they are today, nor did Rte 11 traffic approach today’s average volume of 2,700 vehicles per day. Especially in winter conditions, these old bridges have been the site of many white-knuckled moments!
The proposed new bridge will be built on a new path just south of the existing highway, largely straightening the dangerous “S-curve” while also widening the shoulders, which now taper down to just two feet wide at one place. The new bridge will cross Sucker Brook where it intersects the rail trail, and will consist of a single span (no supporting posts) approximately 250 feet long. The new bridge will be far enough above the old rail bed that should train service be restarted sometime in the coming century, the new bridge will not need to be altered to allow rail cars to pass under it. (Readers may recall that the same rail clearances were maintained when the bridge in Potter Place was replaced some years ago.) The current Rte 11 bridges will be completely removed and the land returned to “a natural appearance”.
The DOT team, led by project manager Tim Dunn and design engineer Hans Weber, has held several meetings in Andover already. The first was on September 29, 2022 in the Town Hall meeting room. At that meeting, the engineers and Andover citizens chose the best and least costly path for the new bridge from two options. The next meeting was held recently at the Hub on May 11, to present more details. Among those details were rough estimates of the project’s hefty price tag, 80% of which will be covered by federal highway dollars, 20% will be paid by the New Hampshire DOT, and 0% will be paid by the town of Andover.
The Commission overseeing the Rte 11 project is chaired by Executive Counsellor Cinde Warminton, and the other two Commissioners are Vicky Mishcon of East Andover and Jon Warzocha of Andover. The Commission met recently in Concord to plan for a formal public hearing (to which all Andover residents are invited). That public hearing will be held at 6 PM on June 27 at AE/MS. All of the information available for the project will be presented, followed by a Question and Answer session.
It is expected that work will begin in the Spring 2025, and the project will take more than a year to complete. Neither the road nor the rail trail will ever be completely closed for more than a few hours, but it is expected that a single-lane traffic light may be installed on the highway. Work will be paused in winter, so snowmobile use of the rail trail will be unaffected.
The state is also about to begin planning to replace the Rte 4 bridge located between Plains Road and Fenvale Road, and to modify about 1,100 feet of those bridge approaches. These changes will bring the road up to modern state highway standards and reduce seasonal highway flooding. This project will start sometime after the Rte 11 project begins, although some aspects of both projects may overlap. The DOT says they will schedule work to minimize disruption to Andover travelers. Commissioners for the Rte 4 bridge project are Ken Wells, Vicky Mishcon, and Jon Warzocha. Watch the Beacon for announcements of the first public meetings for that project.