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Inspired by the greenway movement during the 1980s, a grassroots organization was formed in the Mad River Valley to explore the possibility of a valley-wide recreation trail.  It was incorporated in 1990 as a nonprofit organization known as the Mad River Path Association (MRPA) and began seriously advocating and planning for the Mad River Greenway.  Early planning efforts for the pathway through Irasville and Waitsfield Village explored an off-road alignment.  Due to various natural obstacles, locating the Path along Route 100 was determined to be more practical.  The Town of Waitsfield entered into a Cooperative Agreement with the State of Vermont in 1995 to build the Route 100 Transportation Path (Path) and formed a local advisory committee to work with the Town Administrator, Municipal Project Manager, and consulting engineers to define the project.  Thorough planning and on-going efforts have resolved many issues of concern to citizens and established a plan that meets the purpose and need of the project and State and Federal standards.  The Town has completed the project design and environmental permitting.  The Path will link Irasville and Waitsfield Village from Waitsfield School to Bragg Hill Road.  The scope of the project is a five-foot (5’) wide concrete sidewalk on the east side of Main Street/Route 100, two four-foot (4’) marked bike lanes and strategically-placed crosswalks.  The plan also includes trees, landscaping, granite curbing, pavement markings and signs.  The Town has worked closely with affected property owners and established the legal agreements needed to build the project. The Path project is being coordinated with the planned water project and upcoming state paving project.  Construction of the Path is anticipated to begin in 2012 following construction of the water project.  The cost of the path project is anticipated to be $1.5 million of which 10% will be borne by the Town of Waitsfield.

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Timeline:

1987-90 - Mad River Path Association formed and began to define the concept of a continuous recreation trail and transportation path through Waitsfield.

1993 - The Town of Waitsfield applied for a grant for a study of a path in the village known as the Irasville-Waitsfield Transportation Path.  This is a proposed off-road, 1.44-mile shared-use path from Fiddler's Green running through Irasville Common and the Mad River Green to the historic Village of Waitsfield, terminating a the Waitsfield School.

1994 - The Town of Waitsfield receives award of a Vermont Agency of Transportation, Transportation Path Program grant to develop the Irasville-Waitsfield Transportation Path.  A scoping study is begun by Janet Kennedy of Kennedy Yager Associates.

Public Hearing - November 9, 1994

1995 - The path project was investigated for its impacts on environmental resource, compliance with ADA, and property owner support.  To eliminate resource conflicts, a new alignment located within the corridor and right-of-way of Route 100 is proposed.

Public Hearing - November 20, 1995

1996-98 - The Town of Waitsfield worked through project definition and conceptual design with TJ Boyle Associates for the Route 100 alignment.  The Town accepted the Conceptual Plan and signs a Cooperative Agreement with the State of Vermont to manage the project.

1999 - The Town requested that the project be put on hold to explore the possibility of installing water and wastewater facilities before the sidewalk is constructed.

2000 - A Local Advisory Committee was reestablished including two representatives from the Selectboard.

2001 - The Town hires Kevin Russell as Municipal Project Manager. The project is renamed: Route 100 Transportation Path.

Public Information Meeting - March 27, 2001

2002 - The Town hired Mark Bannon as the Consulting Engineer to complete the final design and environmental permitting.

2002-2005 - The project advanced through final design and permitting.  The project team consisting of the Project Manager, Consulting Engineer, VTrans Project Manager and Project Supervisor, and the Local Advisory Committee worked through several challenging design issues.

Public Information Meeting - September 21, 2005

November 14, 2005 - Waitsfield Selectboard approved theConceptual Plans on revisions to the Route 100 alignment based on several design decisions including a spur sidewalk though the Bridge Street Marketplace to conform to ADA requirements.

2006 - Consulting Engineer completes Categorical Exclusion (CE), a comprehensive environmental checklist.

December 5, 2006 - Received the "All Clear" memo from VTrans Environmental Section.  The project received all necessary environmental permits and entered the right-of-way (ROW) phase.

2007 - Project team developed Preliminary ROW plans.  Coordination with the Town's water and wastewater projects continues.

Schedule for Completion:

2007-2009 - The ROW process was substantially completed; development of construction plans and bid documents began.

The construction of the sidewalk is planned to occur after the water project has been completed through Irasville and Waitsfield Village.

Town Documents		Waitsfield Town Plan (2005) - Chapter 8. Transportation (12 pages, 584 KB)
		Waitsfield Village Parking and Pedestrian Circulation Study, 2006, by Resource Systems Group, the Mad River Valley Planning District, and the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission. (112 pages, 6,054 KB ) • Appendix (89 pages, 1,196 KB )
		Waitsfield VT100 Transporatation Path Brochure, 2009 (2 pgs, 209 KB )
Sidewalk Plan Sheets These sheets are drawn for 36" x 24" paper, but can be scaled to print in a reduced size.		Waitsfield VT100 Transportation Path, Right of Way Detail Sheets, by Bannon Engineering Sheet 0, 03/05/09, rev. 10/26/09 (134 KB) Sheet 1, 03/05/09, rev. 07/15/09 (1,784 KB) Sheet 2 , 03/05/09, rev. 07/15/09 (1,245 KB) Sheet 3 , 03/05/09, rev. 10/26/09 (1,627 KB) Sheet 4 , 03/05/09, rev. 07/15/09 (1,216 KB) Sheet 5 , 03/05/09, rev. 07/15/09 (986 KB) Sheet 6 , 03/05/09, rev. 07/16/09 (620 KB) Sheet 7, 03/05/09 (691 KB) Sheet 8 , 03/05/09, rev. 10/26/09 (664 KB) Sheet 9 , 03/05/09, rev. 07/15/09 (756 KB) Sheet 10, 03/05/09, rev. 07/15/09 (829 KB) Sheet 11, 03/05/09, rev. 10/26/09 (766 KB) Sheet 12, 03/05/09, rev. 10/26/09 (885 KB) Sheet 13, 03/05/09, rev. 10/26/09 585 KB)
Vermont Agency of Transportation		VTrans Local Transportation Facilities Division
		Bicycle & Pedestrian Facility Planning & Design Manual, table of contents page wtih links to the different chapters and entire document (284 pages)
		Sidewalk Widths and ADA, memo from Jon Kaplan, P.E. to LTF Staff, January 31, 2003 (1 pg, 49 KB )

Valerie J. Capels, Town Administrator Waitsfield Town Office 9 Bridge Street Waitsfield, VT 05673 Phone: (802) 496-2218 Fax: (802) 496-9284 E-mail:

Kevin Russell, Municipal Project Manager (Phone: 802) 496-7877 E-mail: kevinrussell@gmavt.net