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Region submits transportation wish list to state


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By Brent Curtis Herald Staff - Published: June 1, 2006

Improving Routes 4 and 7 in Rutland, repaving Route 30 in Castleton, replacing an aging bridge over Otter Creek in the city and constructing a bike path between Castleton and Rutland Town are high priorities on a list of recommended projects for the 2007 construction season.

The Rutland Region Transportation Council voted unanimously last week to approve a three-page list of proposed projects, ranked by importance. The list, which includes projects for paving, road improvements, bridge work and other transportation proposals, will be forwarded to state Agency of Transportation planners who will use it to help determine which projects to fund next year.

"If you go back to the list of projects approved this year, it corresponds closely to what we recommended last year," said the council's chairman, Richard Baker of Brandon. "I think they're reluctant to support projects that the people in the region don't support."

Fifty-three projects — some already in the state's planning pipeline, others newly proposed by the council — were included on the list. Those that rose to the top were considered to be most important in the areas of public support and conformance with local plans, ability to ease congestion, safety, filling gaps in the transportation network, preservation, supporting economic progress and social and cultural importance.

Many of the projects on the list have been priorities for years — such as improvements to Routes 4 and 7 in Rutland.

But Baker said many of the proposed projects will take years to complete and will likely appear on future priority lists as well.

"It's not an overnight thing," he said. "A lot of these are multiyear projects."

Many of the paving projects on the list are already under contract and therefore weren't ranked. Here are the top three unfunded paving projects:

  • Repaving a three-mile stretch of Route 30 in Castleton just north of the intersection of Routes 4 and 30.

  • Resurfacing Route 3 through Proctor village.

  • Resurfacing Route 4A in West Rutland.



    The top three roadway improvements:

  • Consolidating curb cuts, construction of a two-way turn lane, new lighting and sidewalks, and lane reconfigurations to parts of Routes 4 and 7 in Rutland.

  • Conducting a traffic study for additional improvements to Routes 4 and 7 in Rutland City and Rutland Town.

  • Reconstructing part of Route 7 in Brandon as part of ongoing improvements to that road in Pittsford and Brandon.



    The top three town bridge improvements:

  • Replacing the Dorr Drive Bridge in Rutland.

  • Replacing the Ripley Road bridge in Rutland with a wider structure.

  • Replacing a bridge on Forest Street in Rutland that crosses Moon Brook.



    The top three bicycle and pedestrian projects:

  • Connecting the West Rutland bike path to Castleton and Rutland Town.

  • Rehabilitating a historic truss bridge in Wallingford to use at the recreation fields off Route 140.

  • Construction of a pedestrian bridge over Otter Creek in Wallingford to connect the recreation fields with land that will be developed into soccer fields and accesses to Elfin Lake.

    Contact Brent Curtis at brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com.



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