Burlington Gets $500K for Safer School Crossings

From Local Motion

In a couple of years, walking and biking to school will be a whole lot safer for kids in Burlington's south end.  Burlington Public Works was awarded almost half a million dollars by the Vermont Agency of Transportation for improvements in the Five Sisters and Birchcliff neighborhoods.  Go Burlington DPW!

 

Here's what the project will include:

• About 365 feet of new sidewalk on the north side of Birchcliff Parkway between Cherry Lane and Bittersweet Lane.  This will have the added benefit of slowing traffic down as it comes down the hill, as the sidewalk will replace asphalt and make the street substantially narrower.

• Improved pedestrian crossings at Birchcliff Parkway / Cherry Lane, at Locust Street / Charlotte Street, and at Locust Street / Caroline Street.  These will likely include bump-out curbs, speed tables, and other features to shorten crossing distances and discourage speeding.

Big kudos to VTrans for putting real money into the Bike-Ped grant program.  They are making active transportation a priority, and it shows.  Let Jon Kaplan, VTrans' bike-ped coordinator, know that you support Vermont's investment in walking and biking!