16 What has been going on: • After VAST filed with the Federal Surface Transportation Board to get the trail out of Act 250, the state agreed to a settlement which holds the trail to the environmental restrictions previously agreed upon, but frees us from further onerous review for each project. This will allow trail construction to progress at whatever pace there is sufficient funding for. • Bridge 68 at Cambridge Junction was completed and opened to the public in October 2017. • In January 2018, we learned that the grant VAST had acquired to serve as matching funds for the Phase 1C construction was not eligible for that use. We also found that the estimated project cost had increased by $400,000. In order to prevent ever increasing snowmobiler money from being directed to this single trail, VAST decided to postpone the project until other funding sources could be found. • The Capital Campaign is continuing to raise funds with our focus shifted to applying for large grants. We found in the past year that private donations were not likely to meet the high cost of improving the trail. • The open sections of the trail are getting a lot of support from volunteers and the towns. Town highway crews are helping to mow the trail and keep it nice for summer use. Volunteers have helped mow, cleared down trees, ensured support from their towns and more. Special thanks to: Laird McDowell, Zeke Zucker, Peter Ingvoldstad, Ted Chase, Don Glover, Sonny Demars, Ron Gauthier, Al Spitzer, Keith Gadapee, Ellis O’Hear, Terry Carpenter, Jeff Fay, Mike Spaulding, some anonymous people who cleared trees, and all the clubs that help maintain sections of the trail: Northwest Riders, Fletcher Rough Riders, Smuggler’s Notch Snowmobile Club, Sterling Snow Riders, Lamoille County Snow Packers, Coles Pond Sledders, Hardwick Sno-flake Ridge Runners , and the Danville S-Ski-Mos. What’s next for the trail: • Early this summer, the VAST board of directors decided to direct some funding ($40,000) to the phase 1C project in order to at least get it open for snowmobiling. The state also provided some support ($75,000) in the transportation bill. These funding sources combined with the continued 80 percent match from the state/federal bike-pedestrian program means we are putting a sub-project of 1C out to bid to rehab Bridge 93 in Sheldon (over the Missisquoi), upgrade that 1.5mi. section of trail connecting Sheldon village to the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, and repair a large washout in Highgate. The work should begin this fall. • The town of Hardwick has decided to take on two projects of their own to accelerate improvement of the LVRT in their community. First they plan to adopt the NBRC grant which had been planned for Phase 1C and use it instead to deck two bridges and make some other repairs to connect Hardwick to East Hardwick with a safe trail (but not completely re-surfaced like the other sections of the LVRT). Second, they plan to do a full bike-pedestrian project connecting their historic rail depot in the village out to Route 15 near the yellow barn/Lamoille Valley Ford (or perhaps a bit further to Wright Farm Rd.). • We are looking into hiring a youth corps crew to help maintain culverts along the trail and also to improve access to some of the historic structures that people miss if they just pass by on the trail. LAMOILLE VALLEY RAIL TRAIL REPORT Submitted by Ken Brown, Trails Manager and LVRT Project Manager