Suggestions abound for western corridor
Toolbox
By Gordon Dritschilo Staff Writer - Published: May 29, 2009
The western transportation corridor could use some passing lanes.
And better stoplights. And some wider shoulders. And maybe a facility for transferring freight from trucks to train cars.
The Rutland Regional Transportation Council heard a presentation on the Western Corridor Transportation Management Plan on Thursday. The two consultants who addressed the council said the plan, when finalized, would have broad recommendations and avoid advocating specific projects.
"We're looking at 195 miles of corridor," said Steve Rolley of the Boston-based Parsons Brinkerhoff, who made the presentation with fellow consultant John Weston. "By necessity, you have to take a broad look at the kind of actions you can take."
Rolley said the corridor plan, when finished, will be the product of a collaboration between regional planning commissions along the western corridor, the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Vermont Agency of Transportation.
He said the report, the result of a study of transportation needs in the area forecast through 2030, will serve as a framework for local municipalities with short-term and long-term recommendations. It will be up to the towns, he said, to implement any recommendations.
The report would also offer alternate approaches to some improvements. For example, Rolley said installing a park and ride did not necessarily require building a parking lot, but instead a town could arrange to use an existing one.
"Most churches don't use their parking during the daytime," Rolley pointed out.
Weston said he did not expect everything in the plan to be implemented.
"Absolutely there's things in here — people need to make a choice on which ones do you advance," he said. "Passenger rail service costs a lot of money. Streetscapes or fixing signal lights don't."
A handful of council members offered comments, with some discussing the greatest impediment in Rutland County.
James Hall of Proctor suggested politics, saying a rail/truck facility like the one recommended was shot down by then-Gov. Howard Dean.
David Rosenblum of Killington suggested it was the lack of connection to the interstates.
Pittsford Town Manager John Haverstock said he'd had issues with AOT over mitigating local impacts on Route 7. He described how a resident there complained of trucks rattling her house and how he inquired with AOT about putting up a sign discouraging use of engine brakes.
"They said 'We will remove them if you even think about putting them up,'" he said.
Weston said if the communities work together and present a unified voice on such issues, they would stand a better chance of being heard.
"This side of the state — there's political tension between Chittenden County and the rest of us," resident Richard Baker said. "I think this has laid the groundwork for all of us working together."
gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com
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