Cabot Corridor Revitalization Committee
Transportation Enhancement Scoping Study for Downtown Revitalization
Update – October 9, 2013
Cabot Selectboard Notice of Public Hearing
The Town of Cabot Select Board will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 7:00pm in the Willey Building, to discuss a proposed Transportation Enhancement Grant Application to replace the portion of sidewalk on Main Street, from the intersection at Common Road going northerly and ending before the bridge at the intersection of South Walden Road.
Tara Rogerson, Town Clerk
Update – September 4, 2013
In July 2013 Committee meetings resumed to discuss possible Main Street corridor enhancements. On August 6 members of the Cabot Main Street Working Group convened to discuss ways to support the Select Board’s efforts to ensure a healthy, safe, beautiful, and working Main Street. The Working Group, comprised of seven members representing residents of Cabot who live in the Village and the surrounding hillsides and are interested in improving Cabot’s Main Street corridor, assembled at the invitation of the Select Board to act as an advisory committee. At the August 6 meeting at the Willey Building the Working Group established its mission and a general list of activities it would like to undertake, which are to:
1. Identify short term, inexpensive actions that can be quickly taken to improve safety in Cabot Main Street area.
2. Identify medium term and longer term actions that the voters, the Cabot Select Board, and other concerned organizations can take to improve safety, the economy, aesthetics, and pleasantness of life in the Main Street area.
3. Identify, encourage, and support the Cabot Select Board and other relevant organizations to apply for grants/funding for efforts to improve safety, the economy, aesthetics, and pleasantness of life in the Main Street area.
4. Collect and review existing resources (including studies, plans, and surveys and other available information) that could be helpful to the Working Group and the community.
The Working Group also affirmed a commitment to do its best to keep the Cabot community fully informed of its activities and to regularly seek involvement from interested community members. The Working Group plans to regularly post summaries of its work in the Cabot Chronicle, Front Porch Forum, and to work with the Communications Committee established by the Community Visit process. The Working Group will develop a site electronically in the near future where community members will have access to minutes, agendas, resources, and other materials to remain informed.
Cabot Main Street Working Group meetings are scheduled to occur on the fourth Monday of each month at 7 pm at the Willey Building. Current members include Jack Daniels, Karen Deasy, Niall McCallum, Cathleen Maine, Tamara Marian, Stephany Searles, and Bruce Westcott.
All community members are welcome and are encouraged to attend meetings and provide input in a spirit of collaboration. Please consider joining us!
BACKGROUND
In August 2011, the Town of Cabot held a public meeting to discuss a proposed application to receive a Transportation Enhancement Grant through the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) to perform a Downtown Safety, Non-Motorized Vehicle, and Scenic Beauty Feasibility Scoping Study.
The purpose of the Scoping Study was to identify options, issues, and costs associated with the construction of improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians along Main Street and VT Route 215 in Cabot Village. This could potentially including sidewalks or multi-use paths, traffic calming measures, streetscape enhancements and utility relocation.
After the hearing, the Selectboard signed a letter of support for the project and the application was submitted for VTrans review. The Scoping Study grant was approved in January 2012.
In April 2012 the Cabot Select Board appointed an advisory committee of Cabot residents, the Cabot Corridor Revitalization Committee, to advise the Board and manage the project. Through the competitive bidding process, Dubois & King Inc. was chosen by the Board to perform the Scoping Study.
After regular meetings, numerous discussions, and many iterations of various concepts; these conceptual plans were developed. They reflect the work of the Cabot Corridor Revitalization Committee as well as many residents of Cabot who participated in meetings over the past eight months. The preliminary estimates presented are broad and encompass groupings of concepts displayed within the conceptual plans.
Completion of the Main Street Scoping Study has made the Town of Cabot eligible to apply for VTrans grant funding. The Cabot Corridor Revitalization Committee is hoping to apply for a VTrans Alternative Grant to raise the sidewalks between the school and the recreation field, enhance the crosswalks at the church and at Gym Road, add new gateway signing at either end of Town, and to narrow the mouth of South Walden Road to ensure motorists are coming to a complete stop before entering Route 215. These modifications are meant to slow motorists and create a safer corridor for use by the Town’s pedestrians and children as they move between home, school and the recreation fields.
On January 16, 2013 the Cabot Selectboard was presented with the grant application for review. The grant application was denied by the Board in favor of receiving more public input and further evaluation of the proposed project over the next year. At that time the Board will review the revised grant proposal.
The Cabot Selectboard and Cabot Corridor Revitalization Committee remains committed to pursuing grant opportunities to cover 80% of the anticipated costs of each phase of this multi-year project. Half of the Town’s 20% match will compromise of volunteer and Town employee work contributions, the rest likely through taxes.
Additional InformationScoping Study |