20 | Snowmobile VERMONT By Ken Brown, VAST Trails Manager & LVRT Project Manager Even though we don’t have any construction under way, this has been an exciting summer so far for the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail project. With support from VAST, LVRT towns, and the state transportation bill the trail will make some real progress in the next two years. Section 1C Funding from VAST and from the state transportation bill has been pooled to provide the matching funds for construction of the next phase of the trail. Originally named “1C” (the third part of Phase 1), we will be working on the section of trail that connects from Swanton to Sheldon. The project will begin with the rehab of Bridge 93, which is a historic three-span truss bridge that spans 410 feet across the Missisquoi River. Giving the bridge a new deck and completing 1.5 miles of trail will connect the village of Sheldon to the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail. The work will hopefully begin this fall; these projects are a collaborative process between VAST, the State of Vermont, the federal Bike-Pedestrian Program, contractors, and engineers, so the timing depends on all the layers falling into place. After Bridge 93, section 1C includes 10 more miles of trail connecting Swanton to the MVRT. As funding allows future work will begin at Robin Hood Drive in Swanton and extend to where this year’s project leaves off. We are optimistic that the trail will reach from Swanton to the Highgate Sports Arena by the end of summer 2019. Towns Stepping Up To Accelerate Construction The 93-mile LVRT project was broken into phases almost a decade ago. Things, of course, have changed since the original vision and we are moving away from the old sequence. One exciting development is that several communities have approached VAST to see what they can do to bring the trail to their door sooner rather than later. The most advanced of these ideas is in the town of Hardwick. Hardwick has an active trails program already, and they are planning to pool several resources to help provide VAST with the matching funds needed to begin improving the trail there. The first part of this project is already underway and will create a parking area and trailhead on Creamery Road. The next part would connect the new parking area to Wright Farm Road (at the yellow barn), which would have numerous benefits, including connecting to the Hardwick-Woodbury Rail Trail and the Hardwick Trails (behind Hazen Union School) and improving pedestrian access, connecting downtown to the west end of town. A third phase of the proposed work in Hardwick would use a grant from the Northern Borders Regional Commission to begin improving the trail between Hardwick and East Hardwick. The grant isn’t substantial enough to complete the trail there, but we expect it would be enough to open it up, fix major problems, and make the bridges safe for pedestrians. All of this work in Hardwick will depend on some generous UPDATE The next large-scale project on the LVRT will be the rehabilitation of Bridge 93, a three-span truss bridge that spans 410 feet over the Missisquoi River. (Ken Brown photos)