A family walks on a new $61.2 million bridge connecting Brattleboro (pictured in the background) and Hinsdale, New Hampshire. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerBRATTLEBORO — When the first train steamed into this southeastern Vermont town in 1849, a regional newspaper reported how “exhilaration of the moment burst forth” as residents celebrated the arrival of an easy route to seemingly everywhere in the world.Everywhere except neighboring New Hampshire, that is.The new rails ran beside the Connecticut River and a wooden covered bridge that carried horse-drawn buggies across to the Granite State, local historians recount. Transportation morphed into a steel span and automobiles with the start of the 20th century. But downtown traffic tie-ups caused by carriages and cars waiting for passing trains have persisted for 175 years.That’s set to change this week with the scheduled opening of a new $61.2 million bridge that will connect Brattleboro and Hinsdale, New Hampshire — and, better still for nearly 9,000 daily motorists, cross high above the vehicle-delaying tracks.“I don’t think it’s going to bring more people, but it’s going to clean up that intersection and make it more efficient,” said Gregory Lesch, executive director of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce.Transportation officials from Vermont and New Hampshire first proposed the new 1,800-foot-long bridge in 1977 after seeing problems with the current century-old crossing, they recalled at a site visit this week. Bureaucratic challenges delayed that construction until 2021.Throughout that time, Brattleboro residents have called the adjacent Main Street intersection “Malfunction Junction” as the Amtrak Vermonter has stopped traffic daily at lunch hour and the end of the workday.The soon-to-be-replaced steel span over the Connecticut River, as pictured from the Brattleboro shore a century ago. Photo courtesy of the Brattleboro Historical Society“The intersection commonly exhibits high congestion and presents inherent safety risks,” the two states’ transportation offices confirmed in a recent report.The bottleneck is such a part of local lore, the Brattleboro Historical Society devoted its recent annual meeting to bridges, noting construction costs have skyrocketed since the $43,000 required for the first steel span in 1903.The new General John Stark Memorial Bridge is named for the American Revolution officer who penned the Granite State motto “Live Free or Die,” New Hampshire (which controls the waterway) is tapping federal and state funds to pay for about 80% of the project, while Vermont is doing the same to cover the rest, according to an agreement between the two states.New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and Vermont Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn toured the structure Tuesday in advance of this week’s opening.“Funny story,” Sununu said as he recounted a recent conversation he had with his father, John Sununu, a fellow New Hampshire governor from 1983 to 1989. “He said to me, ‘I think we fixed that bridge back in 1988.’ I said, ‘No, you just had an idea to fix the bridge.’”Standing on the new structure, the younger Sununu smiled.“It’s a big win,” he said.Read the story on VTDigger here: $61.2 million Brattleboro bridge set to end 175 years of traffic tie-ups.