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Welcome to the Windham Regional
Commission (WRC) Transportation web page. The WRC has a strong commitment to
transportation planning that accurately reflects the will of all the
communities it serves. See Windham Regional Transportation
Plan and Transportation Committee. Planning
assistance for our local communities is available in a variety of
transportation planning related areas including traffic
counts, grants, corridor management studies,
public transit coordination and bicycle/pedestrian and trail
projects to name a few.
Please contact the staff for
further assistance at (802) 257-4547.
Recent additions and updates to this page include:
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Key points to FY09
Transportation Planning Initiative
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Updates on current
projects
Transportation Plan
Over the last decade or so, the
way in which the public views transportation planning has changed dramatically.
This has resulted in fundamental shifts in how the transportation process works
at the federal state and regional levels. It is now generally acknowledged that
transportation systems have a marked effect on the quality and pace of life,
and therefore the people affected – that is to say the general public – ought
to exercise more responsibility for decisions regarding those systems. Federal
funding priorities and parameters to the states have changed to reflect this
understanding. Transportation plans and reports at all levels of government
have come to include terms like “bottom-up planning,” “sustained public
participation,” and “local involvement.” The Windham Regional Transportation
Plan is based on a strong commitment that it must accurately reflect the will
of the communities that it serves.
The current Regional
Transportation Plan was accepted by the
Windham Regional Transportation Committee at the May 15, 2006 meeting. The Regional
Transportation Plan guides the WRC’s transportation work program activities.
VT 103 Corridor Management Plan: Chester and Rockingham, VT
VT 103 Corridor Management Plan is a joint effort by the Town of Rockingham, Town of Chester, the Southern Windsor County Planning Commission, the Windham Regional Commission, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, and local residents and business owners to develop a comprehensive corridor mangement plan for VT 103 between VT Route 10 and I-91 Exit 6 interchange.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Vision & Goals
Existing Conditions
Future Conditions
Recommendations
Appendicies
Traffic
Studies – Determining the number, type, and speed of vehicles on
our roads.
There are two sources for this
information in our region.
The Vermont Agency of
Transportation (VTrans) maintains automated traffic recorders (ATRs) and
performs seasonal counts at a variety of locations throughout the Windham
Region. For a complete listing of locations and latest as well as historic
traffic count numbers, please visit VTrans
traffic data page.
WRC staff also performs traffic
counts for member towns on roads not usually surveyed by VTrans. The traffic
data from these counts include: vehicle speed as well as classification and
volume. In order to request a local traffic study, please fill out the Traffic
Survey Request Form (Traffic
Study Request Sheet).
Data collected in these WRC counts
has a number of uses.
Traffic volume and vehicle class
data:
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Provides information on one of the key
components for evaluating the appropriate classification of particular roads.
§
Provides local officials with solid
information on traffic volume and type (bikes cars and a range of truck sizes)
to use in their Road Surface Management and other planning.
§
Provides regional and local planners,
public transit providers, and others with current data for informed planning.
§
With the historic data base the WRC now
maintains, local and regional travel trends may be identified for long range
planning at all levels, local regional and state.
Speed data:
§
Current traffic speed is one of six
factors in the legally required traffic study for setting speed zone limits.
§
Speed studies are also effective in
identifying the need for other traffic control devices or traffic calming
methods.
Publications
The WRC has completed many reports
involving transportation and related topics. Please visit our publications page for an
abstract of each report and feel free to call us with any questions.
Transportation Committee
The WRC standing committee on
Transportation serves as our region Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) to
the Vemont state Agency of Transportation. The TAC is an important vehicle for
local public involvement in State Transportation Planning and Development.
Working with the support of the WRC staff this Committee oversees the
Transportation Planning Initiative Work Plan for the current Fiscal year (see TPI Work-program below) The WRC Transportation
Committee meets the 3rd Monday of the month from 4:30 –
6:00 p.m. at the WRC office. These meetings are open to the public. Committee
members are regional commissioners from member towns and some other interested
parties. To obtain the agenda for an upcoming meeting or the minutes from a
previous meeting, contact WRC transportation staff.
Transportation
Planning Initiative FY09: Some key objectives:
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Foster public awareness of
transportation issues and citizen involvement in transportation planning and
policy-making activities.
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Ensure that the WRC’s transportation
planning activities and products accurately and appropriately reflect local
decisions and policies.
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Support a balanced approach to the
planning of long-range improvements to the transportation network, including
vehicular, aviation and rail, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, public
transit, freight movement, and inter-modal centers in the Windham Region.
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Improve Windham region’s ability to
serve as a regional hub for a network of trails, paved pathways and bike lanes
that will provide an alternative to the motorized vehicle for recreation,
social trips and commuting.
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To help local boards to understand the
connection between transportation and land use planning and include highway
access management concepts in town plans, zoning ordinances, and subdivision
regulations.
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Provide towns with necessary data and
information on local traffic conditions and infrastructure in order to help
inform local officials and make decisions in managing their transportation
system.
§
Assist individual towns in addressing
site-specific transportation issues, including the development of
implementation strategies, as needed and feasible within available resources.
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Provide towns and communities involved
with state and town highway projects with sound technical advice and represent
their interests to VTrans where appropriate.
FY09 Transportation Planning Initiative
(TPI) Work Plan
Some specific tasks in the current
Transportation Planning Initiative (TPI) Program for fiscal year 2009 (thru 30 September
2010) are listed below. Copy of the complete
TPI Work Plan is available from the WRC transportation staff. Contact:
Access Management
Analyze roadway and traffic
conditions, and land-use policies along State Highways and Town Class 1 roads,
and recommend solutions to the towns for addressing potential problem issues.
These include, Routes 5, 9, 11, 100, 103, and 142. Particular focus in 2009
will be on Route 103, with a study performed jointly with Southern Windsor
Regional Planning Commission.
Access management is a process of
controlling access to roadways so that the function and safety of the
transportation system is preserved while reasonable access is provided to allow
development. It has been shown that as the number of curb cuts, or
driveways, increases along major arterial roads, so does the accident rate,
while at the same time congestion increases and travel speeds are
reduced.
Some techniques of access management are:
- Combining and minimizing the distance
between driveways
- Providing connection between multiple
lots
- Developing access from secondary
streets rather than main arterials, where it is locally acceptable and
appropriate
- Providing raised medians and/or left
turn only lanes.
Related
links:
Public Involvement and
Education
Using a
variety of formats, maximize public awareness and input on transportation
planning and development These formats will include specific public
presentations on the challenges, opportunities, and principles for improving
pedestrian bicycle travel, and public transit, as well as addressing issues for
private cars and trucks.
Road Safety and High Risk Rural
Roads Audits
These
site specific programs are performed in coordination and communication with the
VTrans and local entities. Through detailed on site examinations of conditions
the teams will devise and propose low-cost solutions to unsafe road conditions.
Regional Plan Conformance:
Coordinate
with VTrans to review current state transportation projects within the region
and to assess their conformance to the Windham Regional Plan. Where potential
problems are noted, the WRC will propose steps to ensure conformance and to
assist implementing the projects.
Windham County Road Foreman Network –
WRC will
continue to work with road foremen from member towns and VT Local Roads staff
to encourage the sharing of transportation information between towns; focusing
on town infrastructure inventories, maintenance of town highways and
cooperative purchasing of materials and equipment.
Pedestrian and bicycle
transportation funding opportunities
Assist town applicants and VTrans
with the review of enhancement, bike/pedestrian and other available program
funding applications to improve bicycle and pedestrian facilities along state
and local roads or separate from them, as well as for facilities to better
access public transit, or improve the walkability of local village centers,
improve. WRC staff has available educational material on design principles and
best practices, including slides of local sites that show pitfalls to avoid and
places where improvements have been well done. WRC is also currently working
with VTrans to develop an appropriate methodology for determining levels of
pedestrian and bicycle activity. Contact for more
information.
The transportation dis-advantaged
In general, WRC works with towns
in the development of inter-modal and multi-modal services. Particular focus
will be given to identify and meet the needs of the
transportation-disadvantaged population. This involves a continuing coordinated
effort among all involved including transportation service providers and human
service agencies
Safe Routes to School (SR2S)
Provide planning support to
schools in the region who are participating in the SR2S Program.
Regional Transportation Plan
update
WRC will be starting the data
collection process as a first step for initiating the update of the Regional
transportation Plan.
Road Sufficiency ratings
For the first time, the WRC will
be directly involved with collecting and providing information on local road
sufficiency as part of work in cooperation with VTrans to help develop state
wide road sufficiency ratings.
Slide Presentations Relevant to
Local Transportation Issues
This is
one format the WRC is using to help inform the public about significant local
issues in transportation and also to hear from town officials and citizens
about what they see as important transportation issues not only locally but on
a state wide level. Topics currently covered include: Walkable Communities: Why
and How to achieve them. Alternative Transportation: History and Future in our
Region. Overview of State and Federal Funding Process. The Elderly and
Transportation. If you are interested, or know a group or venue for a
presenting to the public, contact
Kendall or Matt.
Traffic Calming: VT 30
Project and more
After completion of the Route 30 Traffic Calming Project
report in September 2001(Newfane, Townshend, Jamaica and Bondville), the four
towns agreed on implementing at least two different kinds of traffic calming
devices such as dynamic striping, raised medians, village welcome signs, gateway
designs, and speed limit profiles. Speed limit
profiles post the rural, open sections of the highway with a speed limit of
50-mph, a transition zone with a speed limit of 40-mph where the rural highway
nears the village, and a 30-mph zone in the village itself. Dynamic stripping
pavement markings were designed and painted at each end of the four villages. As stated in the Final Report, October,
2007, Speed studies before and after found a modest decrease in vehicle
speeds. Numerous studies on traffic calming suggest these measures are
increasingly effective when more than one approach is used in combination. The
WRC continues to advise the participating towns on this effort.
The Village of Newfane recently reconstructed some of their sidewalks incorporating elements of traffic
calming.
Road Surface Management System
(RSMS) and Road Safety Audit Review (RSAR)
Both the RSMS and RSAR programs
are examples of the towns, VTrans, and WRC working collaboratively to obtain
qualitative and qualitative measures of the infrastructure in the region.
Road Surface Management System
-- RSMS
Windham Regional Commission will
continue to work with towns with these specific computerized systems of Road
Surface and also Culvert management. Particularly with the economic conditions
at this time RSMS provides a useful tool for systematic, consistent evaluation
in order to determine the most appropriate type of maintenance for long term
cost effectiveness. It can be used to prioritize necessary repairs within the
road network. In addition, towns that complete a RSMS Inventory and
culvert inventory could potentially reduce their local match by up to one half.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning
in the Windham Region
The WRBP Plan (2000) studied
existing cycling conditions throughout the Region and made numerous
recommendations for improvements to meet three primary goals: (1) improve
regional bicycling linkages; (2) improve conditions for pedestrians in the
Region’s villages; and (3) develop tools for general improvements of bicycling
and pedestrian opportunities in throughout the Region. Since that plan
there have been important accomplishments, and also a significant spike in fuel
prices that has riveted focus on alternative modes of transportation including
cycling, and public transit. In order to use public transit, there also need
to be reasonable places to walk to the bus route.
The Windham Regional Commission continues
to work with Brattleboro Area Chapter of the Vermont Bike Ped Coalition, and
other citizen groups as well as town officials interested in improving these
modes of transportation. Plan projects initiated to date include: Connecticut
River Rail with Trail Study, Newfane Village Sidewalk restoration. In general there
are limited dedicated facilities for cyclists in the Windham Region and they
use road shoulders, which vary in width and condition. The Town of Brattleboro has been working to improve road striping for safer shoulders and bike lanes.
Related links:
Public Transit in the Region
Three transit providers assist
people with some of their transportation needs within the Windham Region: the
Brattleboro Bee Line, the Deerfield Valley Transit Association (DVTA), and the
Connecticut River Transit, Inc. (CRT).
The Town of Brattleboro operates
the Brattleboro Bee Line in town, providing a circuitous fixed-route and
morning and afternoon commuter services in Brattleboro. Both of the
town buses sport a design featuring flowers and bees designed by a class of
third grade students. Both town buses have transit bicycle racks installed on
the front of them. Contact Rebecca Gagnon (802) 254-4541 or
rgagnon@brattleboro.org
For bus schedule and fares - http://www.brattleboro.org/
The Deerfield Valley Transit
Association (The Moover) operates a rural demand-responsive service, a ski
area fixed-route service, and a rural fixed-route service in the Deerfield Valley. All Moover buses have transit bicycle racks in season and ski storage
racks in the winter. The Moover is easy to spot – just look for the buses with
a Holstein cow motif. Contact Jan Terk (802) 464-8487 or www.moover.com
The Connecticut River Transit
Association operates a rural demand-responsive service, a ski area
fixed-route service, and a rural fixed-route service in the Windham and
Southern Windsor Regions, including non-medicaid medical transportation.
Contact (802) 885-5165 or www.crtransit.org
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