H 460

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1H.460
2SHORT FORM
3 Introduced by Representatives Bartholomew of Hartland, Burke of
4Brattleboro, Chapin of East Montpelier, Dodge of Essex, Lalley
5of Shelburne, Masland of Thetford, Morris of Springfield,
6Pouech of Hinesburg, Satcowitz of Randolph, and Torre of
7Moretown
8 Referred to Committee on
9 Date:
10 Subject: Transportation; bicycle paths; infrastructure; tourism; U.S. Route 5;
11Connecticut River; active transportation; vulnerable user safety;
12emissions reduction
13 Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to designate
14 U.S. Route 5 for the approximately 190 miles from the State border with
15 Massachusetts to the State border with Quebec, Canada as a bicycle corridor.
16 This bill also proposes to require the Agency of Transportation to convene a
17 steering committee to guide the development and construction of a bicycle
18 route—consisting of one or more segments of bicycle lanes or bicycle paths, or
19 both—to provide a safe and comfortable means of bicycle travel along the
20 designated bicycle corridor. This bill also proposes to require the steering
21 committee to: (1) develop a plan to address, at a minimum, the facilitation and
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1 coordination of individual municipal projects to build active transportation
2 infrastructure needed to support the scenic, historic, and tourism goals of the
3 Connecticut River Byways Program, as well as the fiscal costs of construction
4 and maintenance of those projects and the U.S. Route 5 bicycle route; (2)
5 identify possible funding sources, logistical considerations, and the estimated
6 time frame for construction and completion of the projects and bicycle route;
7 (3) examine the possibility of a segmented or phased approach to construction
8 of the bicycle route; (4) evaluate the benefits of the projects to the tourism
9 industry in Vermont in general and to the municipalities along U.S. Route 5 in
10 particular; (5) coordinate the development of the bicycle route and municipal
11 projects with existing walking and bicycling facilities and rail trails; and (6)
12 develop the bicycle route and municipal projects in coordination with adjacent
13 municipalities in New Hampshire and the New Hampshire regional planning
14 commissions for those communities. The steering committee membership
15 shall include representatives from the tourism industry along U.S. Route 5;
16 managers of recreational facilities and rail trails along U.S. Route 5;
17 conservation organizations along the Connecticut River; organizations
18 dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation; historic
19 preservation organizations from communities along U.S. Route 5; the Vermont
20 Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation’s Recreational Trails Program;
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BILL AS INTRODUCED  H.460
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1 the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council; and the Vermont Department of
2 Health.
3   An act relating to the development and construction of a bicycle path that
4   runs adjacent U.S. Route 5
5 It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
6(TEXT OMITTED IN SHORT-FORM BILLS)
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