Meredith Neck Rd bridge repair

[fatlazyless]

Meredith Neck Rd is a non-numbered state road, not a town road, and the bridge will be reconstructed by the N.H. Dept of Transportation and the H.E. Sargent Corp from Orono, Maine. It is a $732.430 project.

H.E. Sargent Corp ......www.sargent.us/who-we-are/

So, why is Meredith Neck Rd a non-numbered state road and not a town road?

The answer goes back to the 1880's when New Hampshire politicians in Concord were look'n for a faster, easier route to get out to Bear Island Hotel. There's a good sized old stone bridge that crosses a brook between the Lower Meadow and Upper Meadow Farms, still in use, at the start of the Meredith Neck Rd, plus some big hills, and low, wet swamp land and it was the State of NH motivated by the Bear Island Hotel-NH politicians that got it built. What really mattered was having a good time and the Bear Island Hotel was a happening place and the Concord pols needed a better, faster way to get out there. They would take the train from Concord on Friday afternoon to Meredith and then traveled by horse and buggy down the Meredith Neck Rd and they crossed this bridge when they got there.

Unfortunately, the Bear Island Hotel, a 40-room structure burned down on Thursday, November 8, 1934, 90 years ago and was never replaced.

[MeredithMan]

...the repair will allegedly be done at the end of next week. Wagon Wheel, which normally is a nice quiet road to walk on, is now a dirt racetrack as a result of the detour. The vegetation/brush on the sides of the road is now totally brown from the dirt/dust. Hopefully we get some rain soon to wash it away so everything doesn't die off.

[fatlazyless]

Cannot find any history record on this old bridge that crosses the large brook that flows down from Upper Meadow Farm down through Lower Meadow Farm, then under Wagon Wheel Trail and down into Meredith Bay.

Before this bridge was built, it must have been a winding circuitous route down Meredith Neck to get to the Cattle Landing town dock and then by boat out to the Bear Island House hotel. Could be the current detour down Wagon Wheel Trail is similar to the old route from before the bridge was built, or something. Meredith Neck has all sorts of hills, valleys, and wetland areas that had to create road travel issues with the old dirt road traveled by mules, horses, farmers, tourists and wagons ....... yeeee-haaaaa ...... get on up this here hill ..... you lazy donkey! ......

[MeredithMan]

...now 6 weeks and counting. The bridge was completely shut down for the first two weeks, with the detour down Wagon Wheel. Then, it was alternating one-way traffic over the bridge. It looked like a bomb had gone off around the bridge. Now, it is shut down completely again with the Wagon Wheel detour back in play.

I was in the town hall a couple weeks ago getting a dump sticker and the lady in the town clerk's office was appalled that it wasn't done. "The State told us 2 weeks, tops, to be completely done..."

[Winilyme]

...Meredith Neck Road was alternating one way at the bridge location for well over a year and I think closer to two - without any measurable activity that I could see. It also seems that Wagon Wheel Road (mostly dirt) and it's residents are taking the brunt of this in terms of heavy traffic, suffocating dust during the two week summer shutdown, and an increasingly degraded roadway. I'm hoping the plan is to resurface that road at the projects end.

[MeredithMan]

...so today's Sun states that the bridge just opened yesterday for 2 way traffic this weekend, but will be back to one lane at a time Monday, as they do the final top coat of paving next week, with final completion by next Friday.

I guess the total shutdown the last week or so was the final push to get it all done, (or it was my post on this forum...NOT)

[Zootsuit]

In the 1940s, my family owned two parcels on the Neck fronting on the lake that came from the Tobias Ham farm.The deed makes reference to a ‘right of passway (sic) over and across’ an unidentified private road that appears to permit access to the parcel fronting on the lake.

I don’t know the history of the Trail but is it possible that it’s the current iteration of the private road in the deed? Is it now a public way and when did that occur?

Most grateful for any insights you can share.