WEST LEBANON — When the city was forced to close the bridge connecting South Main Street in West Lebanon to the shopping plazas on Route 12A in March 2025 with less than 24 hours’ notice, commuters, buses, emergency services and businesses were left scrambling to adapt.
The 77-year-old bridge closes again at 7 a.m. Monday, this time with months of notice and for far longer: a full year, while contractors demolish the deteriorating span and begin building its replacement.
Pedestrians and bicyclists can still cross on a temporary footbridge alongside the old bridge, though cyclists are encouraged to dismount and walk, according to a city alert.
The 145-foot bridge serves as a crucial artery for about 10,000 vehicles a day.
During the closure, traffic heading toward Plainfield will be directed up Seminary Hill onto Interstate 89 northbound. From there, travelers can take Exit 20 to Route 12A.
In the reverse direction, vehicles should enter I-89 southbound from West Lebanon and travel to Exit 19, where a left turn will lead down Miracle Mile and Seminary Hill to Main Street. The detour follows the same route used during the previous closure.
Last year, the 4-mile detour was in place for a month and some travelers opted for a detour to the detour, traveling instead up Seminary Hill to Glen Road and creating congestion at a one-lane rail underpass with yield signs to guide travelers.
City officials did not respond to requests for comment by the deadline about whether they will add traffic controls on Glen Road during the closure, but a city alert on the closure notes that “motorists are strongly encouraged to follow the posted detour route rather than using local roads as alternatives.” A map of the detour does not show Glen Road.
The “dry bridge,” so-called because it travels over railroad tracks rather than a river or other waterbody, has been on the state’s “red list” of bridges in need of major repair since 1998. It has been repaired with many Band-Aid fixes over the years, including last year when contractors added reinforcements to weak parts of the structure to make it safe for travel.
Construction on the current $14.3 million replacement project began in the spring, with plans to open a new bridge by the end of 2027. The City Council approved the yearlong closure last summer to cut costs and attract bids. Williston, Vt.-based Engineers Construction, Inc. is managing the project.
But from now until next September, commuters will have to adapt.
Advance Transit riders will no longer be able to go directly from Main Street West Lebanon to the shopping plazas across the bridge, Ashley Manning, Interim Executive Director, said Tuesday.
Starting on the 14th, there will be no bus service at four stops: at and across from Romano Circle and Glen Road Plaza.
About 13,000 riders boarded and just under 13,000 disembarked at these stops from July 1, 2025 through the end of June, according to data compiled by Advance Transit.
To get from Main Street to the plazas, Manning said riders will have to take the Red Route Lebanon bus from the nearest open stop at the corner of Main and Church Street West toward City Hall. That bus will take riders to City Hall and then over I-89 to the shopping plazas.
From the plazas, riders can board the bus in the reverse direction. Manning said AT will distribute new timetables for the entire bus route and update the online bus schedule.
Passengers who usually catch the bus near the dry bridge can also use the pedestrian footbridge to access open bus stops, Manning pointed out.
Manning encouraged anyone who can’t access the closest bus stop during the closure due to a disability to reach out to the Advance Transit office to apply for paratransit service. Paratransit is a complementary curb-to-curb transportation service for people who cannot access the fixed bus route: more information is online at https://advancetransit.com/riding-at/access-at/.
The school district also adapted busing plans ahead of the academic year that began Aug. 26.
The district adjusted five bus stops on South Main Street near the dry bridge to accommodate the closure, affecting around half a dozen families, district communications director Jack Rooney said. The students are now being picked up at Romano Circle.
Though the bridge is not yet closed, the district implemented the new routes at the start of the year “to avoid confusion and the need to change the route less than three weeks into the school year,” according to an announcement sent to families.
Rooney said the school district will keep an eye on slowdowns and commuting times once the bridge closes and “be ready to make any adjustments that might be necessary to continue getting our students to school safely and on time.”
While the construction is likely to cause congestion, one silver lining is that commuters won’t face a confluence of construction delays on Main Street, though construction on I-89 is expected to continue into the fall after the brief reprieve for Labor Day Weekend.
Construction on Main Street in West Lebanon, which has caused traffic disruptions throughout the summer, is nearing completion, with paving on several downtown streets scheduled to wrap up by Thursday.
The city and Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission are slated to host a block party in the Kilton Library parking lot on Sept. 13 to celebrate the project, with a ribbon-cutting scheduled to mark the “latest enhancements to our downtown area,” according to a city announcement.
