Anonymous has left a new comment on the post "Here's something Route 2 commuters will want to pa...":

Anonymous said...

Actually, the "small group" engaged in the Act 250 process to protect wetlands along the proposed Route 2 highway expansion and to protect a swimming hole local to East Montpelier--too distant from the about-to-be-destroyed wetlands to effectively compensate for lost wetland functions has a list of concerns that many people in Danville may share. Judy Lewis, as an AOT employee for 30 years, looks at this project throught that specific lens. If you think you may want to be involved, think about it for yourself first. Consider, for example, the challenges we currently have in Vermont to maintain the transportation infrastructure that we already have. The current proposal will almost double the width of pavement across the Marshfield Reservoir--a beautiful scenic route with fragile wetlands on both sides (there are other wetlands along the other two highway segments as well). Do you really think this is necessary for safety? Some experts don't think so. They feel that this proposal will increase speeds and thus decrease safety. And the costs are already so outrageously high, AOT won't disclose the pricetag.

So think first before just jumping on board unless you explore what the issues really are.

And by the way, if someone wanted to fill in a swimming hole in your neighborhood that generations of Vermonters have enjoyed--not only for swimming, but for fishing, observing wildlife, walking dogs--for a project that, at best, has a 50% chance of success (that's the rate of success for Army Corps of Engineers constructed wetlands; not generally done in Vermont), how would you feel? Get the whole story. We can have a safer highway, for less money, without destroying as many wetlands along the highway with a more carefully-considered highway design. Then we wouldn't need to fill in the only swimming hole--a 6 acre acquifer-fed sand & gravel quarry pond--in East Montpelier. It's a beautiful spot!

Thanks for taking the time to think things through.