http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150219/NEWS02/702199909
Published February 19, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Good roads and economic development are linked, town leaders tell legislative committees By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — Concerns about winter road maintenance and pleas for economic development help topped the lists of area leaders Tuesday when two Vermont House committees came to Springfield. The House Commerce Committee and the House Transportation Committee were on a Windsor County field trip Tuesday, visiting G.W. Plastics in Bethel and Royalton, and swinging down to White River Junction, Artisan’s Park in Windsor and finally Springfield. During a hearing held at The Great Hall at One Hundred River Street, Ludlow Town Manager Frank Heald said transportation and economic development were inextricably linked. Heald, who commutes daily from Rutland to Ludlow on Route 103, said winter maintenance of Vermont’s major roads was worsening, and it would have an effect on the tourism economy. Roads in Ludlow are OK, Heald said in a follow-up interview. “It’s getting to and from Ludlow that are the issues,” he said. He said that Proctorsville Gulf on Route 103 is a perennial problem area. “In fact, the entire Route 103 from Rutland to Gassetts can be interesting,” said Heald. Heald said he went to the joint committee hearing “to try and wake them up” to the issue that road maintenance was having an effect on the economy — and it wasn’t just Ludlow’s headache. “If skiers can get here or can’t get home, they’re not going to come back,” Heald said. On top of that, he said, are Vermonters trying to get to work using Route 103, Route 100 and Route 4. Heald said there have been a couple of serious accidents in Ludlow this winter on Route 103, and poor road conditions put Ludlow rescue workers and the town’s equipment in danger. The use of sand has been all but discontinued, he said, because of environmental issues raised by the state Agency of Natural Resources. The sand gets into streams, damaging fish habitat, and plugs culverts. Rep. Patrick Brennan, R-Colchester, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said the state was still using plenty of road salt, and he said the state was far ahead on salt usage compared to the same time last winter. He said the state had used 98,000 tons of salt so far this year on state roads, compared to 85,000 tons at the same time last year. But Brennan said the state was cutting down on the use of sand because of environmental concerns. “I hear you,” he told Heald. “I can’t argue with most of that.” And Heald had nothing good to say about the state’s new weapon against snow and ice — brine. “Brine creates some of the most fantastic slime I’ve ever seen,” he said. Springfield Town Manager Thomas Yennerell told the two committees that while Springfield received a fair amount of state aid to roads, the town was still falling far behind in maintenance. Yennerell said the town would look to the state for brownfields redevelopment of former industrial property in the town, since the town had recently cleared a major hurdle in its efforts to clean up the buildings and make them productive. “I just wanted to plant a seed,” he said.
Talk about stating the obvious! Haven't our supremely competent legislators been sending this very same message for decades now? Oh, well, considering who they are and their hapless track records, probably not!
ReplyDelete