Route 5 has a town every 5 to 10 miles along a scenic river valley, often paired with a town in NH. It has I-91 taking most of the heavy traffic, and it is also one of our more level roads. This makes it a strong candidate for bicycle tourism, much like the Western New England Bike Greenway along the west side of Vermont, the Hudson River Valley Greenway, and the East Coast Bike Greenway.
The road is an officially designated "Scenic Byway", and also the Federal Rails to Trails program would love to use Route 5 to connect their trail network from where the rail trail from Concord ends in Lebanon, up to where the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail begins in St Johnsbury. Other groups have also voted to support a bike corridor along the river, such as several Upper Valley town energy committees, the Upper Valley Ebike Lending Library, Bellows Falls Community Bike Project, the Putney planning commission, Brattleboro Coalition for Active Transportation, and also environmental groups like the Natural Resources Conservation Service Ottauquechee District, the Vermont Sierra Club, and the Connecticut River Joint Commission.
Besides the benefits for tourism, transportation is Vermont's leading source of emissions, our second largest use of fossil fuels, and it's what we spend the most money on for energy. The majority of car trips are under 3 miles, which is a normal distance for everyday bike travel and an easy distance on an Ebike. Many trips within a town could be replaced by bicycling, however surveys have consistently found that most people do not feel our roads are safe or comfortable for biking or walking. Around 10% of people are "Brave and Fearless" and will ride or walk no matter what, and another 10% will not ride at all. But there is a large group in the middle of 56% to 60% of people who are "Interested but Concerned" - they might ride a bike on vacation, for exercise, or for recreation, but don't feel comfortable on roads like Route 5. This is a shame because there are 110,000 people living in the towns along Route 5, which is 1/6 of the state's population. We have the numbers to support better local access.
VTrans currently has 6 Corridor Management Plans, none of which are on Route 5. VTrans is also using road design standards from 1997, and Route 5 has been left behind by more up to date programs such as Complete Streets, Vision Zero, and Safe Routes to Schools. There is also a significant equity problem with roads that are designed only to move cars as fast as possible, estimates are that between 1/4 to 1/3 of residents are not able to drive. Route 5 is our main river valley road and it should work better than it does.
The VTrans survey is a necessary first step in the usual planning process. It is only to gauge town interest in partnering with VTrans to improve Route 5 over many years. There are strong safety, economic, tourism, equity, environmental and enjoyment benefits, but the survey must show a positive response from towns. Your officials and planners in these towns need to hear your support, and if you know someone at a regional planning commission you might speak with them too.
Posted by Karl Kemnitzer
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