The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1919-10-11
Selectmen of Dummerston
Propose Route They
Think Superior
ASK SURVEYORS.
TO LOOK IT OVER
New Route Would Start at Crosby
Pond, North of Brattleboro Line, and
Follow Swamp Road North to juno
tion of Slab Hollow Road.

Decided changes in the proposed Ioca-
tlon of the federal road project through
the town of Dummerston are proposed
by the selectmen of that town, and it is
stated by member of the board that
state and federal engineers and the state
highway commissioner, Stoddard b.
Bates of Derby, will come to Dummerston
i'll few days to look over the proposed
route and decide whether to make sur
vey of the suggested changes County
highway Commissioner David T. Perry
OF West Brattleboro will go to Dummer-
ston today to talk with. the selectmen
with reference to the situation.
The government and state propose to
spend about 100000 on the Dummerston
project, and during the summer vacation
the head of the civil engineering depart
ment of Norwich university and a corps Of
student engineers made a survay of the
proposed route. In order that the money
be made available it viii be necessary
for the selectmen of the town to furnish
right of way, and this the state and fed
eral officials have been expecting them to
do. Since the survey was made, how
ever, the selectmen have been consider
ing new route north from the Crosby
pond, and now they have asked that the
state and federal officials survey this new
route. Hence no right of way has yet been
secured. Whether this will be done is not
known at present, but presumably the
matter will be decided very shortly, as it
| is desired to have the right of way Sc
cured and the estimates completed so that
! construction work can be begun early the
coming year.
| Beginning at the junction of the hill
road to Putney and the lower road north
of the Crosby pond, which is just north
of the Brattleboro line on the Putney
road, the survey already made goes up the
| lower road to the johnson place and then
swings back into the Putney road, there
! by avoiding a hard and dangerous mill
and several curves. Further changes are
contemplated near the Dutton place, also
north of where the Sheldon farm is To-
Gated which is where the road to Slab
Hollow branches off west from the Put
ney road near the old Burchard place. At
that point the survey contemplates
bridging the valley as an alternative t.
going down the hill by the present read
and following the hairpin turn to reacn
the cement bridge already constructed at
| the foot of the hill.
| 1t is the Dummerston selectmens idea
that the federal project, beginning at the
junction near Crosby pond, should follow
| the lower road past the johnson place,
but not crossing it, continuing along thu
road, which is known as the swamp road,
! to point near the schoolhouse on the
Slab Hollow road, previously mentioned.
From there they would go down into the
/ valley ons an easy grade, coming on to
/ the cement bridge mentioned almost in a
straight line The advantage of this route.
they claim, is that it is more nearly
straight than any other, contains fewer
grades and would cost less, in that it
would avoid the necessity of bridging the
valley This would require blasting out
the. ledge at the north end of the pres
ent bridge.
Why this route was not thought of
when the surveyors were here does not
appear, but the selectmen claim that it
is decidedly better proposition tnan the
one already surveyed The selectlnen are
w. w. Burnett, w. A. Miller and George
y Armand