Residents and Business Owners:
The Town, working along with a private consultant, is engaging in a project study for safety improvements on Western Avenue in the area of Union Hill. This study is funded by the State of Vermont, Agency of Transportation, Local Transportation Facilities Division. As part of the process, the Town is holding a public meeting to present design concepts.
We invite you as a community member, property owner, resident or business owner in Brattleboro to attend a public meeting on Thursday, April 10, 2014 at 6:00 pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center located at 230 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT. At the meeting, design concepts for the project will be reviewed and discussions will be held in regard to the objectives of the project. The Town will be providing an update of the project as well as looking for public input on potential design issues.
If there are questions or concerns, please contact Steve Barrett or Hannah O’Connell at the Department of Public Works at 254-4255.
Department of Public Works
211 Fairground Road, Brattleboro, Vermont 05301
Tel: 802-254-4255 • Fax: 802-257-2316 • E-mail: brattdpw@sover.net
Meeting thoughts
Interesting meeting. Neighbors had some good ideas:
– add stop signs on Western Ave in both directions
– make Union Hill one-way down
– add a sidewalk on the Avenue Grocery side of the intersection
– make sure both sidewalks are further from the intersection
– use textured and visible materials for crosswalks
We were told it is unlikely that stop signs would work, mostly because VTrans would be against them and not give us funding for them (but, of course, how much could a pair of stop signs cost?)
We were told it was doubtful that Union Hill would be made one way. More likely that it will be two way, but much narrower at the top, with a bit more space for cars to rest on the flat part going up. Main reason discussed was DPW liked to sand things going up the hill, not down, but a suggestion was made to simply block the road for a few minutes while using the road in the “wring” direction.
The additional sidewalk seemed likely, but would mostly likely be painted rather than texture.
I was impressed with all the public comments. It will be interesting to see how the suggestions are or are not incorporated into final designs.