Champlain Parkway gets final permit

The long-delayed Champlain Parkway, designed to ease Burlington's south-end traffic congestion into downtown, has received its Act 250 permit.

Substantially more work remains to be done before construction can begin, Mayor Miro Weinberger said Tuesday, including the completion of detailed engineering designs, minimizing disruption to businesses and residents; and rights-of-way agreements.

But the parkway's approval by the District 4 Environmental Commission on Monday is "a significant milestone" in the decades-long project, the mayor said.

The permit can be appealed for up to 30 days

TIMELINE: Time-traveling on the Champlain Parkway

The route of the Champlain Parkway, known for years as the Southern Connector, parallels Shelburne Road and then joins Pine Street at Lakeside Avenue.

Early on, the parkway's passage was frustrated by the discovery of significant pollutants in the Pine Street Barge Canal; later, disputes arose over the road's effect on traffic congestion in downtown neighborhoods.

Burlington-based bicycling-and-walking advocacy group Local Motion, while supporting the parkway's broad design elements and the inclusion of a multi-use path for much of its length, offered lukewarm praise Tuesday.

Jason Van Driesche, the group's director of advocacy and education, faulted the Pine Street segment for its emphasis on maintaining brisk motor vehicle speeds -- at the expense of the area's potential for safer, livelier foot and cycle traffic.

"With the exception of the multi-use path, the parkway's design is stuck in the 1970s," Van Driesche said.

Local Motion plans to work with city and state officials to re-design portions of the roadway to better suit long-range transportation goals outlined in Burlington's long-range development plan, he added.

Weinberger, a strong supporter of the parkway, said Tuesday the project, as designed, would "add to the vibrancy of the South End and downtown, and improve Pine Street for bikes, pedestrians, and cars."

Might the parkway be further refined to enhance non-motorized traffic, as per Local Motion's concerns?

"That's a fair question, and we're asking it, too," Weinberger said. "One way or the other, I'm committed to the best possible solution, either within the project or outside the project."

His administration has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to non-motorized traffic on the Pine Street corridor through new "smart" crossing signals and improved sidewalks, the mayor added..

The parkway is integral to Champlain College's "entire transportation and parking program," Senior Vice President David Provost wrote in a news release.

The Act 250 permit "is huge step forward in supporting Champlain College's efforts to keep traffic off the historic hill area where the main campus is located and out of downtown," Provost wrote.

The college continues to have concerns over the parkway's junction with Lakeside Avenue, he added, "and we are hopeful this will be a solution that supports Champlain's mission."

The owners of the Innovation Center (formerly the General Dynamics/General Electric plant), who dispute the effectiveness of the parkway's intersection at Lakeside Avenue, have not yet disclosed whether they will challenge the Act 250 permit.

At the end of July, the Vermont Environmental Court ruled against the owners' appeal for a small re-alignment of the controversial intersection.

EARLIER:

+ Congestion concerns at Lakeside Avenue

+ Vermont Environmental Court green-lights Parkway

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 660-1843 or joelbaird@FreePressMedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/vtgoingup.