SOUTH BURLINGTON TO HOST EAST-WEST CROSSING PUBLIC WORKSHOP
Wednesday, August 31, 6:30 PM | City Hall, 180 Market Street
The City of South Burlington will hold a public workshop on the East-West Crossing project – a Walk Bike Bridge over I-89 at Exit 14 – on August 31 at 6:30 PM. The East-West Crossing Workshop 2, to be held at the South Burlington City Hall at 180 Market Street, is the second in a series of three public workshops. These workshops will result in a design concept for the East-West Crossing project, slated for construction in 2025. Doors (and a virtual room) open at 5:30 PM for a preliminary look at potential concepts and a light dinner prior to the 6:30 PM workshop.
The City, in partnership with the Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Vermont division of the Federal Highway Administration, has hired a multi-disciplinary design team that will be presenting three competing concepts based on input received at the first workshop. The public is invited to this workshop to review options and advise what should be carried forward into the draft final concept. The draft final concept will be presented to the public in October at the final workshop.
In June, the East-West Crossing design team held the first workshop to hear from the public. The City and the public charged the design team with developing both an iconic and fundamentally functional structure. Taking the public comments from the first workshop, the design team has been working on three alternative concepts: a land bridge, a “Vermonty” bridge, and a modern bridge, all of which will be presented at Workshop 2. Options for path connections to the bridge follow the City’s preferred alignment, which begins on Williston Road, hugs the southern side of the Exit 14 cloverleaf interchange, and may feature spurs to Quarry Hill and the University Mall.
The bridge, located in South Burlington, removes a significant regional barrier to walking and biking between Burlington and South Burlington and expands access to the many employment, housing, and retail opportunities in both cities. In 2021, the South Burlington was awarded $9.77 million RAISE grant from the federal government to bring the East-West Crossing project from planning to construction. These funds are to be matched with TIF district financing.
Additional project information, including workshop virtual and phone-in options, may be found online at www.southburlingtonvt.gov.