LYNDON — The future of the long-planned Sanborn Covered Bridge renovation is uncertain as town officials await final cost estimates and grapple with potential increases that could shelve the multimillion-dollar project.

The project’s $2.2 million budget, set two years ago, has not been updated to reflect inflation, design changes, or flood-related revisions. If the final estimate exceeds available funding, Select Board Chair Christian Thompson said the town may need to scale back the scope — or walk away altogether.

“If funds exceed what’s available, either scope has to change or more money’s found — or we go in a different direction,” Thompson said at Monday’s Select Board meeting.

Plans to restore the 156-year-old bridge began more than two years ago. Then, after the catastrophic July 2024 flood, the design was revised to raise the bridge more than four feet and improve abutments, placing it above the 500-year flood level with an additional foot of freeboard. The updated design is intended to reduce the bridge’s impact on nearby infrastructure during future flooding.

Although the project was originally expected to be funded mostly through grants, town officials are concerned that escalating costs could shift the financial burden onto taxpayers.

“If a cost estimate is well above what we have the money to do we need to pivot for sure,” Thompson said. “When the final design and estimate is received, that will tell the tale if the project can be done as designed or not.”

The Select Board discussed the project Monday while attempting to resolve a bureaucratic delay with the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans). Since January, VTrans has asked town listers to accept a $900 assessed value for a 0.14-acre easement at the north end of the bridge. The easement is needed to access and maintain the north abutment.

Listers Carol Fisher, Linda Lee and Larry Willey told the board they would not approve the assessment without understanding how it was calculated and whether the landowner, Joe Buzzi, had standing in the matter. The listers were directed to meet with VTrans to resolve the issue, though it was unclear who would coordinate the meeting or when it would happen.

Zoning Administrator Jon Prue said the revised plans represent a material change and must be reapproved by the Development Review Board. Because of that, he questioned whether VTrans’ request for the easement was premature.

Buzzi, who owns property at the Route 5/114/122 intersection, expressed concern the easement could affect his plans to built a gas station on site, and said he had not seen final abutment designs.

“I’d like to see an engineering design for the abutments before I say anything. My engineers are saying the abutments could damage my property,” Buzzi said. “I don’t think the bridge should go back over the river.”

The bridge was disassembled and removed from its abutments last year after the swollen Passumpsic River bowed the structure, broke one abutment, and nearly swept it downstream during a historic July storm.

The redesign, requested by the town’s Hazard Mitigation Committee, is aimed at improving flood flow and public safety. The committee voted last August to preserve and elevate the bridge, diverging from a recommendation by consultants at SLR International, who had suggested removing it entirely.

While the town did not follow SLR’s recommendation, engineers used the firm’s flood modeling data to inform the revised design. According to the Northern Border Regional Commission, the new plan increases the hydraulic opening under the bridge from about 1,000 square feet to more than 1,400 square feet.

The renovation includes structural repairs, rebuilt abutments, and other flood mitigation features. The bridge would be raised from nine inches below the 100-year flood elevation to one foot above last July’s flood levels.

Built in 1869 and moved to its current site over the Passumpsic River in 1960, the Sanborn Covered Bridge was purchased by the town in 2022. Lyndon also acquired a two-acre parcel at the south abutment — future site of the planned Sanborn Covered Bridge Park.