BURLINGTON — When will the construction on Burlington’s bike path finally be complete? Not until at least 2021 — but much of the southern stretch of the path is slated to reopen this fall.
The Burlington Greenway — the “crown jewel” of the parks system, as the city calls it, and for many, an important commute route — has been undergoing renovations since 2014. Rehabilitation of the northern portion of the bike path was completed in 2018, while the southern section of the path is still mostly under construction.
Much of the stretch that connects Oakledge Park and the waterfront has been closed to bikers for more than a year, with an accompanying detour down Pine Street and Flynn Avenue. The city opened the portion of the path between Perkins Pier and Roundhouse Park on Aug. 13, but 1.4 more miles of the Greenway to the south are still being renovated.
Those renovations are slated for completion this November, and are running on schedule, Jon Adams-Kollitz, a project coordinator with the city, told VTDigger.
“When parts of [the southern portion of the path] are closed, the detour is long,” Adams-Kollitz said. “So I know that people will be really happy to have that route restored at the end of the year.”
An end date for the whole project remains murky. In the spring, Adams-Kollitz said, Covid-19 forced construction to take “at least 50% longer.” The work is mostly back on track — with four separate crews working on the southern path at present — but a spike in coronavirus cases could change that.
The city is also still searching for a contractor for a new set of bike path renovations by the waterfront. The project will realign the bike path with the railway; once it’s complete, bikers will no longer have to cross back and forth across the train tracks. “From a safety perspective, it’ll be really wonderful,” said Sophie Sauve, the city’s parks comprehensive planner.
At the moment, the stretch of the Greenway by the waterfront is blocked off for work being done on the rail to accommodate Amtrak’s new passenger service. Bike path construction there has not yet begun. Adams Kollitz said that project will, “let’s hope,” be done sometime in 2021.
The city budget may also delay progress on the renovations, which, in total, are projected to cost nearly $17 million. Philanthropic contributions from organizations like the Parks Foundation of Burlington have helped lighten the city’s spending over the years, but Sauve said that budget cuts could still threaten the bike path, and have already delayed other parks projects.
So far, though, the city has kept up its momentum on the project. For Jonathon Weber, a program manager with Local Motion, an advocacy group for bike and walk accessibility, that’s critical. Burlington’s bike path is an important transportation corridor for the city, he said, bringing equity and accessibility to the city as well as recreation.
“During normal times, when I work in an office, I use the bike path for transportation every single day. And I know lots of other people use it in the same way,” Weber said.
Local Motion has long fought for improved city bike lanes, including the current detour down Pine Street. Now, Weber said, the bike path will reopen at a time where it is “more important than it ever has been.”
“People really need to be able to get outside and support their wellness in that way,” he said.
