It is time for a path to Cornwall

Author: Allan C. Cremer

As someone who has lived on Route 30 for the past ten years, I have become increasingly aware of the number of individuals and groups traveling on the road by bicycle and the likelihood of significant growth in bicycle use as the costs and environmental drawbacks of commuting by car continue to climb. At the same time, as a retired transportation planner, I am aware of the shortcomings of the road as a bicycle route and the resulting acute lack of safety because of high travel speeds of cars and trucks, the lack of paved shoulders in most areas and intersections with poor sight lines.

Now, thanks to funding from the Addison County Regional Planning Commission, we have at hand a study that sets forth alternatives and recommendations for more safely accommodating bicycles and pedestrians on both Route 30 and Route 125 from the edge of the Middlebury College campus to Cornwall town center along Route 30 and to the James Road/Cider Mill Road intersection along Route 125. The recommendations have won general approval by various interest groups in the community.

The next step is to present the recommendations to a wider public and to explore the various ways in which the proposed improvements can be funded within the constraints of a very tight budgetary climate. Projected costs of providing wider paved shoulders and allied improvements are high enough that the work probably cannot be carried out at once but would need to be undertaken over a period of several years. This presents the challenge of how best to plan construction in stages so that each stage will be useful in and of itself. This means that construction may not start at one end of the improvements and progress in stages to the other end. Instead a program of first identifying and improving the most dangerous stretches is a possibility that is already being considered.

Another task is to continue to build support and assess the future potential for using improved bicycle and pedestrian facilities, should the improvements be undertaken. Many people in the Middlebury and Cornwall communities already believe it is a worthwhile project. A public meeting will be held on October 26 in Kirk Alumni Center, at 7:00 p.m., to heighten awareness of the project and to invite public comment and participation, including the involvement of students, faculty, and staff at Middlebury College.

ALLAN C. CREMER
Cornwall Dellegate to the Addison County Advisory Committee
on Transportation