UPDATE – After the initial bicycle / pedestrian lane was installed during the summer of 2020 (from Dunham Road, near the Town Highway Department, up Sunderland Hill Road past the Town Office Building to the top of the hill), an extension was added during the Spring of 2024. The lane now extends to the intersection of Bacon Hollow Road and Sunderland Hill Road. The lane provides increased safety for walkers and riders while travelling this section of road. Grant funding covered approximately half of the costs to install this safety enhancement. Thanks to the Safe Roads Committee and all who were instrumental in achieving this needed improvement!
Sunderland Safe Roads Committee Volunteers
Marie Litowinsky, Chairperson
Colleen York, Secretary
Scott York
Matt Vernon
Scott Mason McGrath
The Sunderland Safe Roads committee was created to pursue making the roads of Sunderland a safer place for people to use. There are many grants available to improve road safety for pedestrian activities such as walking and bike riding. The committee was created to identify areas of safety concern on our roads that could benefit from this grant money for improvements. The committee continues to work to educate town residents regarding grant opportunities, specifications and requirements and to get town residents input and approval to submit the grant applications.
The current target area for improvement is Sunderland Hill Road. Long term plans would be to improve from the Sunderland covered bridge to Hill Farm Road to Route 7A. The most cost effective road improvement for a rural road would be to widen the road and incorporate a shoulder. Studies determine the exact design and costs to create a shoulder on one or both sides.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
GNAT interviewed the Safe Roads Committee and discussed the original proposal they brought to voters. View the video here: Safe Road Committee Interview
The Sunderland Safe Roads Final Report has been issued and split into two documents due to its large size. If you have a slow connection it may take some time to download.
Sunderland Safe Roads Scoping Study Report – 14MB in size
Sunderland Safe Roads Scoping Study Appendices – 10MB in size
Sunderland Safe Roads Committee presented the Draft Final Report on Tuesday January 19th, 2016 at 7PM at the Sunderland Town Hall. The Town of Sunderland held a public meeting to present and discuss the draft final scoping report that evaluates possible alternatives for pedestrian and bicycle improvements along Sunderland Hill Road and Hill Farm Road. The meeting minutes can be found here: Public Informational Meeting – Minutes 012116. The study considered the need for improvements that would enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists traveling in the project area. We invited property owners and other interested parties to attend the meeting to hear about the study findings and the alternative(s) that were being recommended in the draft final report. After the presentation, attendees had an opportunity to provide input on the project and the alternative concepts. The flyer can be seen here: Final Report Presentation Flyer
The Town of Sunderland held a second public meeting for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Scoping Study project to discuss possible alternatives for pedestrian and bicycle improvements along Sunderland Hill Road and Hill Farm Road. The study considered the need for improvements that would enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists traveling in the project area. We invited property owners, all residents and other interested parties to attend a meeting on September 29, 2015 at 7:00PM at the Sunderland Town Hall where alternative concepts for the improvements were presented. After the presentation, the attendees had an opportunity to provide input on the project and the alternative concepts. View the full meeting flyer here: Alternatives
The kick off meeting for the scoping study took place on April 15th at 6:30PM at the Sunderland Town Hall. The agenda for the meeting can be found here: Safe Roads Kick Off Meeting
The committee submitted an article to be warned for Town Meeting on March 3, 2014. The article requested an amount of $3000.00 which is the amount that the VTrans grant will not reimburse to have a study performed to determine the cost and impact of any changes to our roads to make them safer. The grant provides 90% of the study cost and the town must pay the other 10%. The $3000.00 requested was the maximum amount that the town was committed to spending at that step in the process.
This project helps with Vermont’s “Walk ability Campaign” to encourage residents to incorporate walking into a daily routine and give school kids an opportunity to walk or bike safely to school with road improvements. This campaign targets Bennington county to improve public well being by providing safe roads for physical activity.
The full presentation can be found here: Sunderland Safe Roads Presentation
