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NVDA proposes $35K–$40K Main Street traffic study; council asked to form steering committee
Summary
Doug North of the Northeast Vermont Development Association told the council NVDA will fund a corridor study of Main Street pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle movements, with an engineer consultant to be hired and public meetings planned; the timeline aims for completion by fall 2017.
Doug North, a planner with the Northeast Vermont Development Association (NVDA), told the Newport City Council the agency is prepared to fund a targeted traffic and multimodal study of Main Street and related corridors and asked the city to form a steering committee to guide the work.
North said NVDA will hire an engineering/planning consultant and that his office aims to have a consultant on board before the winter holidays and to complete the study by the end of NVDA’s work year (target: September 2017). He estimated a broad scope covering Railroad Square up toward Maple and Gardner Park could cost in the range of $35,000 to $40,000 depending on scope.
The work would include purpose‑and‑need development, public outreach, alternatives analysis for specific intersections and corridor segments, and a final plan report with cost estimates and potential funding sources. North said the project would coordinate with VTrans because state‑numbered routes run through the city and VTrans has ongoing scoping for Railroad Square work.
North provided previously compiled traffic counts as background — citing 2015 average daily traffic counts of roughly 15,000 vehicles between Coventry Street and Railroad Square and about 9,000–10,000 vehicles between Railroad Square and Gardner Park — and said summer sampling and pedestrian counts would be part of the consultant’s work. He asked the city manager and police chief to serve as points of contact and proposed a public meeting chain for community input.
Council members and business owners attending the meeting discussed concerns at specific intersections, pedestrian signal timing at Gardner Park/Third Street, and the possible tradeoffs of signals versus roundabouts for safety and business access. North said NVDA would revisit previous regional studies and not “reinvent the wheel” while developing corridor alternatives.
No binding commitment or appropriation was made at the meeting; North said NVDA would proceed with consultant procurement pending final scope agreement with the city manager and steering committee.
