Boulders Blocks Route 5-A

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Created on Wednesday, 08 May 2013 18:55

Written by Kevin Lessard

WESTMORE - Drivers on Route 5-A may be a little be more cautious now, after large boulders rolled into the lane of traffic.

The twelve-foot wide, twenty foot tall boulder took a tumble from some high up ledges, before making it’s entrance onto the road.

“It came off a ledge, a bigger ledge.  That’s what it definitely looked like,” said Shane Lotine of Coventry, who was driving route 5-A on Tuesday and stopped to see the giant rock.

When asked to describe the size of the boulder, Paul Redden, who’s been on the Charleston Fire Department for 27 years, was fishing in nearby Lake Willoughby, was in awe of the boulder’s shear size.  “Bigger than a dump truck,” said Redden.  “Or as big as a full size dump trick if the two were together especially.”

VTrans workers estimate the rock fell off the ledge around 5 P.M. Monday evening.  VTrans responded to a passer-by’s call, and responded to the scene of the boulder.  They closed the road down for a few hours and directed traffic into the other lane, in hopes of figuring out a way to move it out.

“We responded to incidents around here, helping Westmore Fire Department and stuff, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Redden said.

Crews had to use an excavator to break the rock down, and are looking out for any more potential rock that could plummet, to the ground.