Colchester Ave: A Space For Progress
Highlighted area shows map of Colchester Ave.
Colchester Avenue is a key travel corridor for Burlington but is not designed safely enough to be properly used. The street right now puts cars first and pedestrians and cyclists are treated as second citizens,
Colchester Ave is set up with painted bike lanes on either side of the road, which disappear for much of the stretch between the East Avenue intersection and Winooski. The section of Colchester Ave West of the intersection is made up of three driving lanes; one for each direction of traffic and a dedicated left turn lane. As it approaches the intersection it switches to a right turn lane for East Ave, and merges with the bike lane, which puts people biking in high-risk situations.
I was able to speak with an avid cyclist and resident of Colchester Ave, Jason Stuffle. We talked about the present state of the street and some of the largest safety concerns for people biking. He pointed out to me how a number of the side streets along Colchester have low visibility, and people are often driving and turning too fast which has caused a number of accidents with different levels of severity. Stuffle himself was in an accident caused by the transition of the street through the East Ave intersection. He was struck by the side of a bus and left with lasting injuries. Stuffle told me that “the present state of Colchester Ave is not safe for people biking. The infrastructure is built for people driving, and many of these people driving (like delivery and transit) are incentivized to speed.”
Colchester Ave has been a work in progress for the last ten years now. Before its current state Colchester Ave was a four-lane street with two lanes of traffic in either direction. The city and citizens realized that a change needed to be made. A study was then done in 2010 to figure out the best ways to improve the space. The study led to changes on the street starting with the reduction to three lanes with a one turning lane instead of one for each side. Its momentum continued and led to the painted on-street bike lanes that are in place today.
It has kept momentum that led to where we are today and towards the future largely thanks to Burlington’s Comprehensive Walk-Bike plan which outlines visions for the future of Burlington’s streets to make them less car-oriented. Burlington first implemented the painted on-street bike lanes in 2018, and it led to increased bicycle usage as expected. It was still not enough to change the behavior of people less likely to bike though, and plenty of people still choose to bike on the sidewalks instead (which is bad for pedestrians). It became clear that more safety improvements through infrastructure changes needed to be made.
I became involved in the Colchester Avenue developments in January 2021 as an advocate focusing on ideal bicycle infrastructure for the redesign of the corridor. Advocacy work is arguably the most important aspect in causing a change; especially when there is any controversy surrounding it. The purpose of the work was to spread awareness about the project and find people within the community who supported it. The supporters would be given updates on important meetings and decisions being made, and were encouraged to contact the decision makers and attend meetings to voice support for the safest and most easily used bicycle infrastructure.
It became clear in connecting with the community, and in particular those already passionate about biking, that serious changes still needed to happen for the infrastructure to feel safe for all users. When I spoke with Stuffle he shared some of his frustrations being a frequent user of the bike lanes, telling me “the current bike infrastructure is often disrupted and literally used as a gutter. Addressing the problems often seem like an afterthought.” We observed some obvious examples that we barely had to look for, like collection bins, delivery trucks, and road work signs in the bike lanes. We discussed how these kinds of obstructions would never be allowed in the streets where they would disrupt cars, but "people biking have almost no protection from cars so further committing to a separate, dedicated space for people biking would make the situation much safer." Stuffle said.
There is a redesign of Colchester Ave currently moving through the public process that will help make biking and walking safer. The study was put on hold due to Covid, but got back on track in 2021. Throughout the winter and spring there were a number of meetings to decide what to do with this space in order to best improve the community and reflect its wishes.
After months of debate and taking feedback, the project advocates had pushed for was approved. It includes raised and separated bike lanes along the length of both sides of the street, and a new bike traffic signal at the East Avenue intersection. This design would be the most advanced and safest bicycle infrastructure in Vermont. On its own it cannot make all the difference, but it can be an example of the infrastructure that can make a difference for all users.
