The Valley Reporter
P.O. Box 119
Waitsfield, VT 05673
802-496-3928
CONTACT INFORMATION
The Valley Reporter
P.O. Box 119
Waitsfield, VT 05673
802-496-3928
CONTACT INFORMATION
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No one wants to see any delays in the repaving of Vermont Route 100 from Waitsfield south to Warren. The road is seriously degraded and sorely in need of not just pavement but a thorough rebuild.
Damage from last summer’s Irene flooding exacerbated already deteriorated and dangerous roads, and we can’t afford to have another road construction season slip by without getting that road back in shape.
But it is wrong to let the drastic need for that road repair overtake the need for the project to be done properly. Properly, in this case, means making sure that adequate shoulders are created and re-created all along that route so that cyclists, pedestrians and runners are not only safe, but also welcomed and invited to use our roads.
Route 100 is a scenic corridor through our scenic corner of Vermont. It is heavily traveled by vehicular and two-wheeled and two-footed traffic despite its current unsafe condition. It needs to be restored to its previous parameters and those shoulders, where possible, need to be extended, not reduced.
To suggest, as Vermont Agency of Transportation engineers and planners have, that cyclists prefer a more uniform and predictable shoulder along a state highway really suggests that these people don’t ride bikes on Vermont’s state highways.
What cyclists (and runners and roller-skiers and inline skaters, etc.) prefer is a safe, wide shoulder that is clearly marked and ideally located as far from the travel lanes as possible. These shoulders should also be swept, cleaned and maintained to the same level that the travels lanes are swept, cleaned and maintained.
Cyclists and those who use the shoulder for travel are discerning enough to tell when the shoulder width is reduced from four feet to three feet and then back again.
The project absolutely must proceed as planned next summer (because what would summer be without a road project or two or three?) and it must be done right. Local leaders must prevail on the state using every method at their disposal.
The towns in this area contribute an awful lot of money to Vermont via tourism dollars paid from rooms and meals and sales taxes. It is not unreasonable to expect some return on that payment in the form of proper road shoulders.
But this is about more than just tourism dollars. As a state and in our community we are all learning to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and that means making sure that our roads accommodate four-wheeled, two-wheeled and two-footed traffic.
