Mountain Rd. Tales

For the Governor

This letter was sent last week to Gov. Dean:

Dear Governor Dean:

It was with great pleasure that my wife and I attended the legislative breakfast in Randolph on April 2, when you very ably answered many questions from the people. The reason for this letter from me and our Selectboard in Rochester is to confirm our concerns shared by the selectboard of Randolph and Bethel.

We in Rochester use the subject road to:

1. Access our primary hospital and health center at the Gifford Medical Center in Randolph;

2. Access Gifford Medical Center by our Valley Rescue Squad in the Rochester Valley (which also includes Hancock and Granville.) At present the squad takes Route 107 to avoid detrimental impact to their patients, thus adding 20 minutes to these critical journeys;

3. Access the designated Vocation School in Randolph;

4. Access our closest pharmacy in Randolph or Bethel;

5. Access interstate I-89 from Bethel going south and Randolph going north;

6. Access employment for our residents who work in Bethel, Randolph, Royalton or Montpelier/Barre.

The AOT has designated Bethel TH#2 as a "Major Collector on Town Highways" and in 1994 gave it the highest priority for reconstruction in the TAC’s list of ten projects recommended to the AOT. As of now we understand that state and federal funds will not make the rehabilitation work possible until construction season 2003.

The conditions of the road has resulted in damage to vehicles, additional fuel consumption, inconvenience and, perhaps most importantly, danger to resident’s lives. We cannot access health facilities in a reasonable time over safe roads.

Please address this neglect. We would be happy to conduct a tour if that would be helpful. Enclosed is a copy of the newspaper clipping that appeared in the Herald of Randolph covering your response to my questions about this matter.

Marvin C. Harvey

For the Rochester Selectboard