New road to provide safer alternatives to Vermont Route 15
Estimated to start construction in the summer of 2009, a new public road is set to be built running parallel to Vermont Route 15, connecting St. Michael’s Main Campus to North Campus.
Follow the yellow brick road
Originating in 2004, the idea for the road came from St. Michael’s College. Sen. Patrick Leahy, a graduate of the college, provided the necessary action to get the project moving.
 |
A car entering Vermont Route 15 from Johnson Avenue.The slip road is currently the most dangerous enterence point to Vermont Route15 and will be removed with construction of the new road. |
The senator secured federal funding to facilitate building the road, in the form of both an earmark and federal highway dollars, says Greg Cota, an aide to Leahy.
The project is estimated to cost $3.5 million, with about $2.5 million going toward construction, says Brian Osborne, director of public works for the Town of Colchester.
Three million dollars of the funding is to come from the monies provided by Sen. Leahy, while about $500,000 will be provided locally. The majority of the local dollars will come from the college while the remainder will be paid by the town, Osborne says.
To obtain federal funding, the project must be facilitated though a municipal organization. St. Michael’s, being a private organization, could not receive the federal dollars and turned to the Town of Colchester, says Dave Cutler, director of facilities at St. Michael’s.
“The money is actually flowing from the federal government to the Town of Colchester, and the town is managing this project,” Cutler says. “So we’ve had a fairly arms-length overview of the project.”
Cutler and the school have been working together since last November to keep things moving forward, he says.
Currently, the project is finishing up the preliminary engineering, and will be moving into the right-of-way process, Osborne says.
Because the land for the project is primarily being donated, the project managers must obtain all the land in a right-of-way process, he says. After that stage is complete, they will proceed to final design.
“After final design is set we move into big documents and contract documents for contractors to start building,” Osborne says, “As of now we’re planning for construction to begin next summer and the project will probably take one to one-and-a-half years.”
Road block?
The new road is to connect and rebuild two existing roads, Winchester Place Road and Johnson Avenue, and will go through the Vermont National Guard’s Camp Johnson.
As of now, Johnson Avenue is privately owned by a non profit organization, Vermont State Housing Authority (VSHA). The organization owns and manages the Windemere Mobile Home Park located on Johnson Avenue, Osborne says.
 |
A moblie home on Mt. Sterling Avenue, one of the two residences to be relocated for construction of the new road. |
“Windemere houses very low-to-moderate income families in dire need,” says Krister Adams, housing development specialist for the VSHA.
Two mobile homes from Windemere are currently located on town property and will have to be relocated for construction to commence, he says.
“The town didn’t realize until we began to develop the design that the trailers were actually on town property,” Osborne says. “We now need the town space for improvements.”
The homes will be relocated to a green area in the back of the park, he says.
“The town came to us when they wanted to start this, needing the two trailers moved,” Adams says. “It’s very tight in there any way, and now we have to get tighter, it’s not a good situation for the park.”
Windemere is more than six years old and is in need of water sewer systems and other infrastructure for health and safety, he says.
The VHSA is applying for grants to get the funding for the upgrades and has asked the town as a municipal organization to apply for a grant in itsname, Osborne says. If the grants do not come through, the town will not allow the upgrades to delay the project and will begin as scheduled.
The VHSA can continue to apply for grants until the money comes though. If the grant is acquired after the road is built, the road will likely have to be dug up for the improvements, Osborne says.
“The bottom line is, we’re not going to let it happen,” he says. “We will likely find a way to build and pay for the improvements now, and have the VHSA pay us back.”
VHSA is pushing to come up with a fundable plan for Windemere improvements, but it could easily hold a million dollar price tag, Adams says.
A wonderful day in the neighborhood
The new road will connect St. Michael’s Main Campus to Fort Ethan Allen and the school’s North Campus. The road will be public and be open to everyone.
In addition to the actual road, construction will include lighting, a sidewalk and a bike lane, Osborne says.
It is projected that around 2,000 vehicles a day will pass on the new road, taking traffic off of Vermont Route 15, he says. It is the rough equivalent of a small to medium size subdivision. Vermont Route 15 sees well over 15,000 vehicles a day.
 |
A family walking on the dead-end road on Johnson Avenue. ( Photo by Kaitlin Couillard) |
“A lot of traffic will be going by the park. Pedestrians and kids will have to really be careful,” Adams says. “It’s going to dramatically impact Windemere.”
The road will be the new route for the St. Michael’s shuttle. It will also allow for easy access for The Vermont National Guard to come use St. Michael’s facilities for exercise without having to go on busy Vemont Route 15.
In constructing the road, the Town of Colchester will also be getting rid of the slip lane by Cumberland Farms and offer three safer alternatives for accessing Vermont Route 15, Osborne says. There will be the exsiting traffic signals at Fort Ethan Allen and Camp Johnson, and a stop controlled intersection by Cumberland Farms.
The new road will be posted at 25 miles per hour, which is the lowest speed limit that can be set by state saw, he says. There will also be street trees and ornamental lighting which create a calming effect on traffic.
“Our North Campus and Main Campus don’t really function as one area and those in The Fort feel like orphans,” Dave Cutler says. “It really will tie Fort Ethan Allen and St. Michael’s together and create more of a neighborhood.”