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Select Board approves green path-style crosswalk at Depot Street bridge to connect Riverwalk and rail trail
Summary
Following a presentation by the regional transportation planner, the Bennington Select Board chose a green/high-visibility crosswalk treatment with signage to improve pedestrian connections between the Riverwalk and the new rail-trail skate-park area and to correct the crossing's skew.
The Bennington Select Board voted June 22 to install a green/high-visibility crosswalk and associated signage at the Depot Street bridge crossing to better link the Riverwalk to the rail trail and skate-park area.
Mark Anders, transportation planner with the Bennington County Regional Commission, presented five treatment options ranging from a standard high-visibility ladder crosswalk to a combined curb-extension and raised crosswalk. Anders and town staff recommended lower-cost painted or thermoplastic treatments (options 1 or 2) as the first phase because drainage at the bridge site complicates raised or heavily graded crosswalk solutions.
"I'm proposing to bump out the curb a little bit to the north and that would create a more perpendicular crossing," Anders said of options to correct the current skew. He also recommended signage showing shared path users (bicycles and pedestrians) and 'stop for pedestrian' signs to improve motorist awareness.
After board discussion about consistency for the town's Walloomsac Valley path network, maintenance, winter removals for in-street signs, and cautious use of raised tables because of drainage, the board voted to adopt option 2 (green crosswalk marking and signs) and directed staff to correct the skew and install the selected treatment during the bridge work.
What’s next: Town staff will coordinate details with the bridge contractor and the Bennington County Regional Commission, order signage, and oversee installation of the green crosswalk and any short-term curb adjustments as part of the Depot Street bridge project.
