Vermont officials say improvements to highway interchanges, more traffic lights and a short road around a five-corner intersection in Essex Junction will be among the first projects to be constructed as part of a long-term plan to relieve traffic congestion in Chittenden County.
Governor Peter Shumlin was joined Tuesday by transportation officials and others when they introduced 34 separate projects that would address a range of issues, including congestion, safety, and economic development.
Vermont officials have been struggling for decades to find a way to alleviate traffic congestion in the towns east of Burlington. A single section of what was to have been the “circ highway” was built, but subsequent sections were not.
Michele Boomhower is with the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission. She says the region is expecting population growth in the next decade – meaning more people and cars.
“The circ alternative of this project will aid and provide the backbone of transportation infrastructure necessary to support this type of historic settlement pattern while continuing to protect our region’s agricultural and natural resources as well as our rural community character and way of life," Boomhower said.
The projects suggested Tuesday have an estimated total cost of nearly $100 million.
