The Vermont Agency of Transportation is in the process of developing an On-Road Bicycle map to make sure the roadways can safely support bicycle riders. They're looking for public input for the project, with the date for final comments fast approaching.
"Across the network we're interested in being able to support bicycle riding of all types and all uses as much as possible," said Kevin Marshia, Deputy Chief Engineer for the Vermont Agency of Transportation. "However, we have to prioritize our investments where we can. It's just not feasible to get bike shoulders, wider shoulders on every highway in the state of Vermont all at one time, so we want to prioritize to make sure that where we are investing are those areas that are most important and most critical to bicyclists."
Users can color-code a map of Vermont's state roads with how desirable they are for bicycling, routes where they ride now, and routes that they would like to ride if they were safer. And they can even leave specific comments about shoulders and pot-holes. So far, over 2,000 unique users have responded to the map.
The map is merely Phase 1. Once the information is collected the planners will look at the different types of uses, recreational and commuting, and develop a prioritized state highway network for bicycle routes.
Subsequent phases will take a closer look at the higher priority routes and perform field assessments to identifying the barriers for cyclists and then integrate those improvements into construction work going forward, like paving projects or intersection improvement projects.
Public input on the desirability map is open until May 15. Once the maps are complete there will be some more public outreach and ability for public input in the subsequent phases of the project.
