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Courtesy of Andy Rudin
From the Rutland Herald-Times Argus
August 6, 2006
By Peter Hirschfeld Staff Writer
MONTPELIER – A former rail bed that stretches 93 miles from Swanton to St. Johnsbury is about to undergo a $7 million overhaul that state officials say will make it a prime recreation trail in Vermont.
Improvements will be made under the auspices of the Vermont Snow Travelers Association, however the Vermont Agency of Transportation must lease the 36,000 square feet of trail area to the snowmobiling organization before VAST can access $5.8 million in federal funds appropriated for the project last year. A public hearing Monday will give citizens an opportunity to weigh in on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail before the groups finalize their lease agreement.
"It's an opportunity for them to weigh in, to give us any input they have, and then for us to make adjustments," said John Zicconi of the Agency of Transportation. The hearing is at 6 p.m. in Montpelier and will be broadcast via Vermont Interactive Television. "The public may bring up something we didn't see."
VAST will use the federal money, along with $1.2 million from its own coffers, to fix washouts, upgrade bridges and improve conditions along the route. The 30-year lease agreement will grant day-to-day operations and maintenance to VAST while upholding the agency's public oversight of the trail.
Zicconi said the four-season trail will be a boon for local outdoor enthusiasts and the tourist economy.
"It's another amenity they can add to menu to help invite guests to the state," he said.
The trail will also supplement a VAST trail network that has seen its mileage shrink as landowners develop open parcels and restrict access.
Controversy over the use of all-terrain vehicles has dogged the project in recent months, but Zicconi says that issue won't be part of Monday's forum. Because the trail will be improved with federal funding it is subject to federal laws governing ATV use. The federal government has deferred ruling on whether ATV use would be allowed on trails like the rail trail, and the debate in Vermont, Zicconi said, will have to wait until a decision is made.
"The feds have said they're not ready to say whether (ATV use) is OK or not," Zicconi said. The lease agreement prohibits the use of ATVs pending the federal decision. "They'll come up with a concrete set of guidelines for this kind of trail. Once we know what those guidelines are, then we can begin the conversation about what we want to do vis-à-vis this trail in Vermont."
A nighttime curfew for motorized vehicles on the trail is among the topics likely to emerge Monday. The draft lease calls for a "quiet trail" between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Once the lease is signed, VAST will begin drafting a management plan to determine how the federal money will be spent.
***August 8, 2006
By DAVID GRAM The Associated Press
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| The Vermont Agency of Transportation has been negotiating a 30-year lease with the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers. It was revealed in the lease last year that provisions would allow some ATV riders to use the trail. Photo: FILE / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
WATERBURY — It was billed as a public hearing on all the provisions of a lease under which a snowmobile group is to manage a recreation trail across northern Vermont.
But the only lease provision that seemed to matter was the one saying that all-terrain vehicles would not be allowed to use the Lamoille County Rail Trail "unless decided otherwise by the state" after getting federal permission and holding public hearings.
Dozens of people turned out at locations from Johnson and Lyndonville to Brattleboro, linked by Vermont Interactive Television, to speak their piece about whether ATVs should get to use parts of the 96-mile recreation trail linking Swanton in the northwest and St. Johnsbury in the northeast.
ATV riders, those favoring "quiet uses" like hiking, biking and cross-country skiing and state officials agreed on one thing: any ATV uses of the trail would be limited to small sections the riders would need to get to parts of their own trail networks on opposite sides of the rail trail.
"The entire discussion has only been about ATV crossings for ATV connectivity purposes," Deputy Transportation Secretary David Dill said in remarks prepared for Monday's hearing. "When the term 'ATV access' is used, it only refers to crossings."
Dill also noted that federal rules — the trail project is getting $5 million in federal funds — currently bar ATVs from trails like the Lamoille Valley. An exception to the ATV ban could be sought from the U.S. Department of Transportation, but such an exception has never been granted, Dill said. No change in that status is expected before next year at the earliest, he added.
Beyond that, agreement was hard to find.
A wide range of views was offered during the evening's early going. At least one person spoke in favor of the trail reverting to railroad use, saying there would be enough commerce to support it. Dill reiterated officials' earlier statements that if a viable railroad proposal were put forward, the trail would revert to that use.
Some speakers said they wanted no motorized uses of the trail at all, including by snowmobilers.
ATV riders said they get what one speaker called "recreational bliss," by riding their machines. They also maintain that as taxpayers, they should have access to a trail being redeveloped mainly with public money.
"What I'm hearing is 'I don't want to share,' one pro-ATV speaker said of those opposing their use on the trail.
Milton Select Board member Randy Barrows, who is also a police officer and ATV rider, said "99 percent of (ATV riders) are hardworking folks who have paid their dues to ride. … If it's bought with taxpayer dollars it should be open to all uses."
He and a few other speakers said what Barrow termed "renegade riders" had created a bad image of ATVs in some people's minds.
ATV critics worry that their experience of the natural beauty along the trail would be destroyed by noisy machines zipping by, spewing exhaust. They also worry about safety of pedestrians, bicyclists and horseback riders.
One speaker from Johnson said it would be "a big mistake, if you want to preserve the serenity of our communities, to have any motorized uses of the trail at all."
The argument about everyone involved being taxpayers didn't sit well with one man from Lyndonville. The state should not be under pressure to provide ATV owners with places to ride, he said. "This is akin to me going out and buying a boat and then expecting the taxpayers to fund building a lake for me."
Many of the comments focused on whether there had been enough public participation in the process leading to the lease talks between the state and the snowmobile group.
Dill promised the state would have a full public process if it gets federal clearance and decides to pursue allowing ATVs to use parts of the trail. He also invited the public to read the draft lease on the Transportation Agency's Web site and to file written comments.
He asked that those comments be sent by Friday, adding that officials hope to sign the lease by the end of this month.
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