click to enlarge - Anne Wallace Allen ©️ Seven Days
- David Ertel and Michael Hoffman at Plainfield Hardware
Plainfield Hardware wasn’t damaged in the flooding that devastated nearby downtown Plainfield on July 10. But the store is taking a different kind of hit from bridge and road repairs now needed on Route 2.
A bridge between East Montpelier and Plainfield
on the major east-west thoroughfare was closed for nearly a week after the flood and is still limited to one lane. And on Sunday, the store's managers received more bad news: The state plans to close a section of Route 2 altogether for two weeks beginning on September 16. Work is needed to stabilize a steep roadside riverbank that has been eroding dangerously since the July flood.
The closure will sharply curtail visits to many
businesses on Route 2 just as the busiest tourist season of the year is getting under way. At a time of year when thousands of leaf peepers usually stop in at Plainfield Hardware for sandwiches, coffee and Vermont specialty food products, signs will divert drivers to Route 14 instead.
“We didn’t have any physical damage here during the flood, but this is kind of our collateral damage,” said David Ertel, a local resident who has worked at Plainfield Hardware for several years.
click to enlarge - Screenshot
- The detour will direct drivers to Route 14 and back down Route 214.
The hardware shop has been going through a transition that predates the flooding. The bustling store was purchased last year by the Plainfield Co-op, which plans to combine the two entities within the hardware store's building on Route 2.
The sale went through last month, and now the board of the 50-year-old co-op is working out details that will allow the store to move and expand its inventory and equipment there sometime in the coming months. The volunteer board also plans to come up with a name that integrates the hardware store and the co-op.
Ertel expects the road closure to cut customer traffic in half. Some regulars, he said, will drive the few extra miles because the store has the largest selection of hardware for miles around. The store is also a well-known dealer of insulated chimney pipe, an item that makes up the bulk of its income. There’s a deli, groceries, a greenhouse and a large selection of colorful wooden Adirondack chairs that are handmade in Cabot. On Mondays, coffee is free all day.
Ertel said he’s bracing for a drop in sales, but he understands why the state Agency of Transportation, known as VTrans, needs to close the road. Much of the riverbank fell into the Winooski River during the flood, leaving a 75-foot chasm at the edge of the busy road.
“Every time you drive by, it looks worse,” Ertel said. “Really, at this point, it’s an emergency.”
click to enlarge - Courtesy of VTRANS
- Winooski River as seen from eroded bank at Route 2 in Plainfield
To stabilize the road, VTrans plans to drive several sheets of steel 40 feet vertically into the bank and secure them with 40-foot-long horizontal nails that will pass under the roadway, according to Phil Harrington, the VTrans engineer in charge of the project.
Several businesses on Route 2 will be affected by the closure. In Vermont, the roadway runs from Alburgh all the way to the state's border with New Hampshire, making it a popular route for tourists in northern New England.
East Montpelier property owner Marc Fontaine built a new farmstand and market on Route 2 that opened in March. His partner, Sharon Bissell, said visitor traffic dried up completely when the Route 2 bridge closed after the July 10 flood.
“I could have taken a nap on the porch and nobody would have stepped over me,” Bissell said.
Fontaine opened the store in part to provide a place for neighbors and friends to sell their farm products, Bissell said. His Hereford cows graze in pasture behind the store, and he's selling beef from his farm there.
“We have prided ourselves in bringing in our friends’ and neighbors’ products. We were so looking forward to the tourist season,” Bissell said. “It’s just so disappointing.”
Like Ertel, she sees a clear need for the roadwork and closure.
"It's just unfortunate timing," Bissell said.