The Route 15 Corridor

Plan History

In the mid nineties communities along the Burlington to Essex Rail Corridor requested that the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) consider the expansion of the Charlotte to Burlington rail commuter service to Essex Junction.

In 1998 and 1999 and in response to this request, the Vermont Congressional Delegation supported the initiative by requesting and then receiving authorization of $6,968,928 in federal funding in two Congressional Earmarks.

VTrans was the grantee for the project and asked the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO) to facilitate the project in collaboration with VTrans in 1998.

The Vermont Congressional Delegation, through a request from the State of Vermont, sought and received two extensions from Congress on this project to September 30, 2002.

CCMPO, at a cost of $360,000, undertook a Rail Feasibility Study in 1998-99 of the rail corridor and determined that the extension of the Charlotte to Burlington commuter rail service into Essex Junction was feasible.

The federal criteria were revised in 1999 to require an Alternative Analysis of the Burlington to Essex Junction commuter rail project and VTrans contracted with FTA for an Alternative Analysis in March 2000 at a cost of $2.1 million ($1.7 million federal and $400,000 state).

In the fall of 2000, CCMPO allocated $750,000 for Phase 1A of the Alternative Analysis, developed a Scope of Work and Procurement Process, and hired a consultant.

In the spring of 2001, the consultant undertook an Alternatives Analysis of the Corridor that is based upon the existing transportation system and all projects currently in the adopted Transportation Improvement Program. These include such major projects as segments A and B of the Circumferential Highway, Kennedy Drive, Shelburne Road, Lime Kiln Bridge, the Southern Connector, and Riverside Avenue.

In September 2001, CCMPO approved the analysis of the consultant. They concluded that the best approach to solving the problems in the Route 15 Corridor was a multimodal solution that included commuter rail, feeder bus service, and minor improvements on Route 15, such as turning lanes and new traffic signals.

In the summer of 2001, the consultant was given approval to proceed to complete Phase 1B to prepare an Environmental Assessment, undertake a financial and institutional study, determine more detailed costs for the improvements, and study Transit Oriented Development around the train stations.

In February 2002, CCMPO added the Route 15 Corridor Plan to the Long Range Transportation Plan.

In the winter of 2002, CCMPO continued to detail the multimodal transportation plan for the Route 15 Corridor and added a proposed bike/ped path between downtown Essex Junction and Lime Kiln Road, traffic signal optimization and the use of new technology in the highway corridor to improve traffic flow.

In June 2002, the Draft Environmental Assessment of the commuter rail was completed.

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