On a given day, as many as 800 trucks — most of which are large tractor trailers hauling cargo between Vermont and New York state — pass through downtown Vergennes.
The impact of this outsize truck traffic has long been a source of contention in the city of 2,600. State officials and planners are undertaking another study — the fourth since 1995 — in an effort to address the problem. And they say they’re confident this time the project will lead to a solution.
The latest study began last summer and is expected to take about three years. Planners hosted two workshops in late May, following one last November that drew more than 100 attendees who weighed in on what to include in the study.
Downtown Vergennes is built up around Route 22A — known locally as Main Street — which runs between Route 7 to the north and Route 17 to the south. Route 17 connects to one of only two bridges across Lake Champlain between Vermont and New York.
Locals say the truck traffic in Vergennes is noisy and can be dangerous for pedestrians and other drivers. They report that in winter, trucks frequently get stuck going up a more than 10% grade on Main Street and have to back down, disrupting traffic.
According to study documents, planners are weighing several alternatives, including the construction of a bypass that would take trucks around downtown. The 2019 study recommended this option, proposing a roughly 2-mile road to the west of the city’s center.
Other options would encourage or require trucks to use a network of existing roads in the area instead of the stretch of Route 22A that passes through Vergennes. For example, officials could direct trucks to use Route 17 and Route 7, taking them through multiple nearby towns in Addison County.
Still more alternatives include working with the state to transition from transporting regional cargo in trucks to other modes such as trains and barges.
Some downtown businesses worry that rerouting truck traffic could have unintended consequences. Access to a new bypass may limit the trucks, they said, but it also could reduce the amount of cars that pass through the downtown.
Laura Mack, who owns Lu Lu Ice Cream on Main Street, knows there are tourists traveling between New York and Burlington who, after passing by her shop, will make a pit stop for a scoop. If those people could shave a few minutes off their drive by taking a bypass around downtown, they may never see that her store is there, Mack said.
To Whitney Paul, who works at The Blue Lily Clothing Co. a block down the street, this issue is “a double-edged sword.”
“It’d be great to get all the trucks off the road,” Paul said. “But then it’s also going to route a lot of traffic away from our little city — which is also business for us.”
A September 2021 survey of about 40 truck drivers found that almost 70% of trips through Vergennes do not begin or end in the city, according to study documents. It also found the trucks are primarily carrying cargo for the dairy and timber industries.
And per a 2019 study, truck routes through similar downtowns in the state carry significantly fewer trucks: the next highest number cited was 370 trucks a day through Ludlow on Route 103, followed by 360 a day in Wilmington along Route 9.
Adam Lougee, executive director of the Addison County Regional Planning Commission — which is directing the study along with the state — said that even the economic impacts of the pandemic didn’t slow down the amount of truck traffic in Vergennes.
The 2019 study’s proposed bypass — estimated to cost about $39 million and take 10 to 15 years to build — was dubbed the “Vergennes Economic Corridor.” Planners cited the potential for new development along the road outside the city’s historic core.
A 1995 study also detailed plans for a bypass on the western side of the city, and a 2002 study concluded that removing trucks from downtown was the best option.
Katharine Otto, a planning coordinator at the Vermont Agency of Transportation, said in an email that previous studies have all “made steps forward,” which will allow the current study to be the most comprehensive yet.
Planners are aiming to settle on “a few alternatives,” which then will go through a federal environmental review process that’s necessary for construction to begin, she said.
Otto and Lougee said the ongoing study involves greater collaboration with the federal government than previous efforts, which should speed up that process.
“The current Vergennes PEL study is intended to dig in deeper,” Otto said, “talking to more people in the region, as well as diving deeper into some of the technical considerations which could influence the future of the project.”
Lougee noted planners have made a concerted effort to get input from residents in the Otter Creek Mobile Home Park, which is located close to some of the proposed bypass routes for trucks. The community has about 75 homes.
Two proposed routes would cross Otter Creek near the mobile home park and pass either the park’s western or eastern side. Currently there is only one bridge over Otter Creek in the city, along Main Street over Vergennes Falls.
Other proposals call for truck routes through nearby towns.
Michelle Eastman, who has lived at the Otter Creek Mobile Home Park for about a decade, said she believes rerouting trucks to go near a large, low-income community is not the best option — and would rather see continued improvements to pedestrian safety on Main Street.
Following recommendations in the 2019 study, the state made several changes to the streetscape of Route 22A in downtown, including adding curb extensions which can make it harder for trucks to turn onto side streets. But Paul, whose clothing store is located on a corner, said those extensions don’t always stop the trucks from trying.
Eastman said planners did not make a good effort to contact her and other Otter Creek Mobile Home Park residents for the 2019 study, and she appreciates the outreach this year. She pointed to concerns about noise coming from trucks as they cross over a new bridge near the mobile home park, noting she feels the current crossing works well.
“Anytime you put trucks in the air, that noise spreads out,” Eastman said. “Where the bridge is now — at the top of the falls — is kind of perfect.”
