"Vermont Transportation Issues
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A three mile bicycle trail on the railbed of the abandoned Springfield Terminal Railway between Springfield VT and the Cheshire Bridge over the Connecticut River was formally opened on September 30, 2000. The trail is paved between the Cheshire Bridge and the Paddock Bridge, and is surfaced with hard-packed stone dust between Paddock Bridge and the Jones Industrial Center.
(on some sections)
The Winooski East Riverfront Development includes a paved bike path of approximately 2400 feel in length between Main Street and Granite Street, just east of downtown Montpelier.
Two sections of multi-purpose rail-trail have been completed on the Vermont portions of the D&H railbed along the New York State Line for a total length of 19.8 miles. The first section begins at Castleton and extends south of Poultney, while the second section begins at West Pawlet and extends south of West Rupert. However, parts of the intermediate section through Granville as well as the southern section to Salem are unsuitable for trail use due to a lack of corresponding action by New York State agencies.
A copy of the official trail brochure issued by the VT Agency of Natural Resources.
The supplementary information about this trail has been expanded to include information about the two New York State sections of the trail. Also included is information about the important trail facilities that were observed on or near the trail, as well as a few pictures of the trail and nearby buildings.
A series of 82 historical markers indicate the approximate location of Vermont's first thoroughfare, an 85 mile rough road built in 1759 between Charlestown, NH and Fort Crown Point, NY. Much of the road has disappeared entirely to the point that historians can only speculate as to its precise location. But other parts of the road vary in condition from a barely discernable path to a town road that is still used on a daily basis. The Crown Point Road Association has issued an illustrated guidebook providing the detailed driving instructions required to locate each of these historic markers.
The route of the Crown Point Military Road was never used for railroad purposes. However, its history and the resultant route is sufficiently similar to a rail-trail to merit inclusion on this Web Site.
A 48 mile colonial military road between Wells River and Hazen's Notch State Park near Lowell VT, with a history that is somewhat similar to the Crown Point Road. The route of this ancient road is described in a brochure issued in July 1997 by the Northeast Vermont Development Association (PO Box 640, 44 Main St., St. Johnsbury, VT 05819), phone 802-748-5181, FAX 802-748-1223, <[email protected]>. The brochure is also available from the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, at [email protected].
Unfortunately, the brochure is distressingly vague about the precise locations of access points, condition and permitted uses of the historic roadbed, and many other details necessary for hiking, biking and similar uses of what ought to be a very enjoyable bike route into Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Accordingly, the Webmaster drove along the approximate route of the trail in May of 1998 for the purpose of determining the accuracy of that brochure. The report of that trip has been posted to this Web Site as a proposal for the immediate creation of the Bayley-Hazen Bike Route that uses the public roads built on the bed of this historic colonial road and otherwise on nearby town roads!
The route of the Bayley-Hazen Military Road was never used for railroad purposes. However, its history and the resultant route is sufficiently similar to a rail-trail to merit inclusion on this Web Site.
This proposal will extend the existing Burlington Waterfront Bikeway and the Causeway Park Trail to the Canadian Border on a spectacular traffic free bikeway across the islands as an important part of the Lake Champlain Bikeway.
This rail-trail uses a section of the Rutland Railroad roadbed that runs along the northern lakefront of Burlington. It then becomes a rail-with-trail across downtown lakefront, and continues south to the historic Lakefront Community.
This rail-trail uses a spectacular section of the Rutland Railroad causeway that extends three miles into Lake Champlain from Colchester in the direction of South Hero.
Basic information about this trail has been provided by Northwest Regional Planning Commission.
Also included is the 1999 edition of the official Guide to the Missisquoi Valley Rail-trail.
Supplementary information provided by the Webmaster includes a historic mileage chart of the trail that also serves as a set of links to pages for selected locations along the trail. Each page contains pictures of the trail and surrounding points of interest, as well as a listing of historical points of interest near the trail. The location map on each page is also a link to the Mapblast Web Server for interactive access to the mapping system, as well as a complete Yellow Pages (business) Directory for the surrounding area.
Basic information about this trail has been provided by the VT Agency of Natural Resources.
Supplementary information includes location map for Jamaica State Park and the two towns mentioned as endpoints of this trail project. Each map is also a link to the Mapblast Web Server for interactive access to the mapping system, as well as a complete Yellow Pages (business) Directory for the surrounding area. A listing of historical points of interest near the trail has also been added.
A citizen's group in the town of Rochester VT is interested in establishing a trail that might use the railroad bed where practical and available, and otherwise generally parallel its course. A few sections of the trail are used locally for trails or fishing access, but are not marked as official trails, and are only available as long as the landowners feel generous.
This trail utilizes the bed of an old logging railroad on New England Power Company land, with the last mile within Green Mountain National Forest. Highway access is via the Somerset Access Road running north fron Route 9 along the Deerfield River in Searsburg, VT.
This trail utilizes the bed of an old logging railroad to penetrate the Lye Brook Wilderness.
A 5 mile section of the Trail is briefly described in section Q of the Official Rails-to-Trails Conservancy New England Guidebook by Cynthia Mascott published in 2000 by Globe Pequot Press.
(tentative list)
The Marsh-Billings National Historic Park will open in June of 1998. Park facilities include 20 miles of carriage roads and trails through one of the nation's oldest continuously managed forests, established by Frederick Billings in the 1880s on the deforested flanks of Mount Tom.
A local newspaper article dated March 26, 1998 stated that the proposed management plan for the park and the associated Environmental Impact Statement will be mailed to area organizations, agencies, libraries, and town officials in a few weeks, opening a 60 day public comment period.
Lake Champlain Bikeways is a public/private initiative to create a network of interconnected, international bicycle routes on existing roads around Lake Champlain in New York, Vermont, and the Upper Richelieu Valley in Quebec. To date, 363-mile principal route around the entire Lake in Vermont and New York, and along the Richelieu River to Chambly, Quebec, has been identified and mapped. Also available are 27 loops and spurs to provide another 824 miles of interconnected bicycle routes. These routes traverses bikeways and lightly used town roads wherever possible!
Except for the Burlington Waterfront Bikeway, and the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail this system of bikeways and bike routes has never been associated with any railroad, but is included primarily because it has been listed as a Rail-trail by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
Bike trail backers eye river corridor (May 22, 2001 - Brattleboro Reformer)
This comprehensive but old listing of trails is at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Web Site.
Sign images are from the Manual of Traffic Signs by Richard C. Moeur.
Updated on June 12, 2002 by Kenyon F.
Karl <[email protected]>.
Unintentional errors are likely!
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