a
Democratic Path to a Safe, Quality Parkway for the
South
End! “Let's
Do It Right the First Time”
FOR
RELEASE APRIL 3, 2018
Contacts:
Pine
Street Coalition Tony Redington 343-6616
Post
Office Box 8726 Steve Goodkind 316-6045
Burlington,
VT 05402 Charles Simpson 865-5110
BURLINGTON—The
Pine Street Coalition today announced its challenge to Federal, State
and
City governments to redesign the Champlain Parkway, citing a paradigm
shift in
highway
safety, environmental justice, and water quality law since the
proposed road was
last
publicly evaluated by federal and state regulators ten years ago.
Federal and
state highway design laws changed in 2012, making safety for
vehicles,
bicyclists
and pedestrians the top priority. The Champlain Parkway uses older
highway
designs
that Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) documents say are
significantly less safe.
“FHWA Proven
Safety Countermeasures and Vermont’s Complete Street Laws adopted
in
the last decade require safety first,” says Tony Redington, leader
of the Pine Street
Coalition
and retired Vermont and New Hampshire transportation planner.
“Roadway
elements
like roundabouts, which reduce serious accidents by 90%, and
dedicated cycle tracks which make biking a safe, environmentally
sound transportation option, are not part the Champlain Parkway’s
outdated design. Failure to re-evaluate the Parkway in light of
current knowledge and law about highway safety will, quite simply,
costs lives.”
Since the last
public hearing on the Parkway in 2006, Burlington’s South End has
become
one of Burlington’s most vibrant communities, filled with
restaurants, breweries,
new
housing, shops, and a growing technology enclave and new incubator
spaces. “The
Parkway
design fails because it does not take into consideration today’s
realities,” says
Steve
Goodkind, Burlington’s former Public Works Director who has joined
the Pine Street
Coalition’s
efforts. “The Parkway would cut off the Pine Street corridor, and
prevent planned future development in the City’s Enterprise Zone,”
Goodkind added.
The Parkway
would also bisect the Maple-King Street neighborhood, which is one of
Burlington’s
poorest and most diverse communities. “Federal laws adopted in the
last ten
years
require environmental justice review to ensure that the voices of
affected residents
are
heard in the planning process,” says South End resident and
community development
expert
Dr. Charles Simpson. The Pine Street Coalition cites a lack of
agency outreach, as well as an absence of aesthetic and noise impact
analysis in the Maple-King Street community.
The South End
2.3 mile Parkway costing an estimated $43.1 million remains a vestige
of
the four-lane roadway thinking of the 1960s. The plan for a
Burlington ring road now
long
abandoned included the Parkway super highway rammed through the
waterfront
and
Old North End.
If the Federal
and State agencies do not re-open the environmental review process
within
90 days, the Pine Street Coalition says it will file action in
federal court this summer.
