CONCORD, Mass. – The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) is seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District to conduct work in waters of the U.S. in conjunction with repairing a portion of U.S. Route 2 in Cabot, Vermont.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation proposes to place fill material in a total of 6.74 acres of waters of the U.S. in conjunction with the reconstruction of about 1.49 miles of U.S. Route 2 in Cabot. This work is proposed in Molly’s Brook, Hooker Brook, several unnamed tributaries and wetlands adjacent to these waterways off of U.S. Route 2 in Cabot.

Proposed work includes the discharge of dredged or fill material for the reconstruction of about 1.49 miles of U.S. Route 2. New bridge crossings of Molly’s Brook and Hooker Brook, and new culverted crossings of five unnamed tributaries will impact a total of 0.09 acre of stream bottom below Ordinary High Water. The typical existing roadway cross-section is 22 feet. Widening the road to standard National Highway System width of 40 feet and minor alignment improvements to improve the geometry and safety of the road will impact a total of 6.64 acres of scrub-shrub, forested and emergent wetlands (6.01 acres of permanent impact/0.63 acre of temporary impact).

The basic purpose of the proposed project is to reconstruct an existing U.S. highway to comply with current safety and design standards. To compensate for unavoidable impacts to waters of the U.S. of the proposed project the applicant proposes to make a payment to the Vermont In-Lieu Fee Program.

The application for the federal permit was filed with the Corps in compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge or fill of material in U.S. waters, including wetlands. The public notice, with more detailed information, can be viewed on the Corps website at http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNotices.aspx.

Public comments on this project proposed by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (File # NAE-2006-3923) should be forwarded no later than April 24, 2015 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Vermont Project Office (ATTN: Marty Abair), 11 Lincoln Street, Room 210, Essex Junction, Vermont 05452. Additional information is available from Permit Project Manager Marty Abair at 802-872-2893 or by email to martha.a.abair@usace.army.mil.