I-89 scheduled to reopen fully by Sunday morning
disruptions will affect traffic Friday-Sunday
October 27, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti UPDATE: This story was updated on Oct. 28 with additional details from the Agency of Transportation.
Paving begins on the southbound side of I-89. Agency of Transportation photo
After five months of construction, the Vermont Agency of Transportation is preparing to reopen Interstate 89 fully between Richmond and Waterbury by Sunday morning this weekend.
That means travelers on I-89 have just a few days left to navigate the construction zone that’s been in place since early summer.
The approximately $12 million emergency repair project to replace a massive collapsed culvert buried underneath the interstate’s southbound lanes is finishing on time and on budget, agency spokeswoman Amy Tatko said on Thursday.
According to the latest project update, paving on the closed southbound side of the highway that’s been under construction has happened this week along with guardrail and rumble strip installation and line painting.
Two upcoming disruptions will happen on Friday morning and overnight Saturday into Sunday this weekend.
Friday morning rolling roadblock
S.D. Ireland grades the slope along the southbound lanes. Agency of Transportation photo
To facilitate the shift to reopening the highway to two lanes in both directions, the southbound side of the interstate will have a rolling roadblock starting around 10 a.m. on Friday morning, the agency announced.
It will start at Exit 12 in Williston on the southbound side only and will take about 15 minutes. Traffic will not be able to enter I-89 at Exit 12. This will allow contractor S.D. Ireland to remove existing line striping from the construction period and alter the lane pattern to open up one-lane traffic in the southbound travel lane.
The contractor will also remove the temporary pavement from the crossovers section and some of the jersey barriers, the AOT announcement explained.
Saturday night closure/detour
The next step is scheduled for the northbound side happening overnight Saturday until Sunday morning.
Starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, access to I-89 northbound from Exit 10 in Waterbury will be closed. A detour will be marked directing traffic to use U.S. Route 2 westbound. Motorists will be able to get onto I-89 northbound at Exit 11 in Richmond.
This closure to traffic will allow the work to be completed including removing the remaining jersey barriers to reopen both northbound lanes for travel.
Transportation officials say they anticipate that all lanes in this work zone area will be open by 6 a.m. on Sunday. Afterward, any remaining work is not expected to impact highway traffic.
Backfilling above the culvert replacement involves a massive quantity of fill. Agency of Transportation photo.
What it involved
Transportation Agency Director of Communications Amy Tatko explained some of the project details. This emergency culvert repair project along one of the busiest interstate highway corridors in Vermont began this spring. In late May, Transportation Agency officials noticed deterioration in the southbound breakdown lane on I-89 just below the Richmond exit, Tatko said.
The contractor S.D. Ireland Corp. was hired for the job that involved digging down 62 feet in depth and removing approximately 40,000 cubic yards of earth. The challenge was to maintain the integrity of the existing northbound roadway by installing “driving sheets” -- interlocking metal sheeting to support the excavation -- approximately 90 feet down from the roadway elevation, she said.
Once the northbound road sections were stabilized, the contractor was able to remove the failed culvert and replace it with a 200-foot-long precast sectional concrete drainage structure. With that in place, some 40,000 cubic yards (more than 3,000 tri-axle dump truck loads) of dirt was backfilled above the new culvert structure.
Ireland worked with subcontractors in recent days to seen that the southbound lanes are now paved with lines striped and guardrails installed, Tatko said. After weekend work is done to remove the concrete barriers and the temporary pavement markings, all lanes will be reopened to traffic. Motorists can expect the interstate to be back to normal travel lanes on Sunday, Oct. 30, she added.
See the Agency of Transportation website updates for photos during the project construction.