The Champlain Parkway Project Has Begun: Here’s What You Need to Know

Image courtesy of Seven Days

“After decades of work and multiple administrations, The Champlain Parkway Project will transform the once four-way highway into a two-way roadway." This is how the Director of Burlington Public Works, Chapin Spencer, described the Champlain Parkway Project. Since the 1960s, the Champlain Parkway Project has been in the works to help improve the traffic in the neighborhoods of Burlington. The Burlington Department of Public Works along with the Federal Highway Administration and the Vermont Agency of Transportation have worked together to transform the four-lane road to its two-lane design. According to Spencer, it will turn the roadway into two lanes and "include stormwater circulation improvements to improve the state of Lake Champlain" and "provide enhancements to street infrastructures including new sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian signals." 

As the project has been in construction since the beginning of the summer, there have been many changes to the route, and Chapin Spencer has provided updates regarding the Champlain parkway project. From the start of the project, lots have been completed, but Spencer acknowledges, “It is crucial to be aware that there are two construction phases; the initial phase to go into 2024 and the final phase to be completed by 2025-2027.” 

Image courtesy of Champlain Parkway

Currently, the project is in its middle stages. "So far, the middle portion of the project has been completed, which generated a new street section from Home Ave to Lakeside Ave, including the addition of sidewalks and crosswalks,” Spender explained. “There also has been a focus on foundational work and stormwater improvements in areas that do not have them." With that part completed, the project has moved on to blasting. These blasting activities will occur over the next few weeks and it has happened on the route of Champlain Parkway East. Once blasting began, a slight conflict arose due to the discovery of an unanticipated ledge in the ground. Although a minor conflict, Spencer said that the construction team is currently working on removing the ledge.

 Along with the blasting comes traffic disruption, which has been of great worry amongst the community of Burlington. "Traffic has been a concern for many, so there have been weekly meetings with the public to discuss the traffic and the upcoming procedures of the project," says Chapin Spencer. To provide more information to the community members, flyers have been placed at doors to inform people where there would be disruptions due to the construction. The area that has been impacted the most by traffic disruption has been Flynn Ave. 

With the start of any new project, concerns have been raised by some community members for various reasons. Chapin Spencer called the Champlain Parkway Project "not the perfect project, but it has been in the works for many years, and it has been fit to work entirely within its financial requirement." According to Spencer, it is also important to note that the project does not need to remain static as it will evolve with the community. The city is allowed to modify the construction plans in accordance with what is deemed necessary to ensure the project can accomplish its full potential. 

What Chapin Spencer wants all community members to do is look at the project as an investment: "If you look at what the project is doing overall, it will reduce the traffic in the long run and provide an improved Burlington."