Parts of the Champlain Parkway will be fully paved by the end of the year. What to expect.
A major road project in Burlington's South End will become even more visible to residents in the coming year.
The Champlain Parkway, a 2.8 mile stretch of new and existing road, will primarily connect Interstate 189 and South Burlington to downtown Burlington, separating local and thru traffic and taking large trucks off residential streets. The project will also add traffic lights to intersections currently operating with stop signs and improve bike and pedestrian safety along Pine Street. So far, crews have cleared trees, installed underground infrastructure and prepared the surface for paving in the section of the parkway between Home Avenue and Lakeside Avenue which, when finished, will be a 25 mile-an-hour road with a shared-use path on the eastern side.
The Champlain Parkway project has two parts (and two contracts). The first includes new roadway installation and upgrades to the existing road between Home Avenue and Kilburne Street and will be completed in 2024. The second part involves paving the parkway between the I-189 interchange and Home Avenue and upgrading pedestrian and bike safety on the second half of Pine Street from Kilburne to Main Street, including the installation of coordinated traffic signals at Maple and King Streets and the upgrading of Main Street's traffic lights. The second contract will be completed in 2027.
By the end of 2023, however, the new section of road and all of its intersections between Home Avenue and Pine Street will be complete, and crews will upgrade and repave Lakeside Avenue and begin upgrading Pine Street to be more bike and pedestrian friendly. Construction work on the parkway will resume in mid-April.
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What has happened so far
The land where the parkway will be paved and the vehicles poised to work on it are currently under a blanket of snow, but cleared trees and construction cones show the progress made so far. The parkway will run past several South End staples including City Market, Petra Cliffs Climbing Center, and the World's Tallest Filing Cabinet.
In 2022, workers focused on preparing the stretch of the land between Home Avenue and Lakeside Avenue for paving as well as doing work on the streets that intersect with the path of the parkway including residential and side streets: Briggs Street, Ferguson Avenue, Lyman Avenue, Morse Place and Batchelder Street, Flynn Avenue and Sears Lane.
Crews cleared trees, put storm water management features and drainage systems into place, removed contaminated soil and prepared the ground for paving between Home and Lakeside Avenues. A small portion between Lakeside Avenue and Sears Lane was paved.
The side streets received upgraded underground utilities and storm water drainage systems and preparation for repaving. Lyman and Ferguson Avenues will dead end in cul-de-sacs and Morse Place will dead end at Batchelder Street which will have no outlet. Batchelder currently connects to Home Avenue and Ferguson Avenue, and Lyman Avenue and Morse Place currently have access to Briggs Street. The Champlain Parkway will cut off these access points.
What to expect in 2023
As temperatures rise and snow melts, workers will be out once again.
From April through June, crews will do underground utility work at the future Home Avenue, Flynn Avenue, Sears Lane and Lakeside Avenue intersections and then create the intersections, installing upgraded railroad crossing signs and signals, protective piping for traffic and street light wiring, sidewalks, curbs and landscaping.
The residential cul-de-sacs and dead-end roads of Briggs Street, Ferguson Avenue, Lyman Avenue, Morse Place and Batchelder Street will be paved, curbs and sidewalks installed and landscaping established between April and June. The base for the road and shared-used path between Home and Lakeside Avenues will also be put down.
Between July and the end of the construction season, the road and shared-use path between Home and Lakeside Avenues will be paved and curbs established. Traffic lights, street lights and landscaping will also be put in.
Attention will then turn to Lakeside Avenue and Pine Street where the parkway makes a couple pivots. Lakeside Avenue and part of Pine Street will receive underground utility work and then will be repaved. Traffic signals at the intersection of Lakeside and Pine will be upgraded, and sidewalks and shared-use paths will to be installed or improved along Pine Street up to Kilburne Street. Raised intersections and crosswalks at Howard Street, Marble Avenue and Kilburn Street intersections will also be constructed.
Some work will require detours for motor vehicles, pedestrians and bikes. Detours will be clearly indicated and ADA accessible for pedestrians. So far, construction work has been during the daytime hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. but residents can sign up for regular construction updates here to be informed on the latest happenings, work hours and detours.
Contact Urban Change Reporter Lilly St. Angelo at lstangelo@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @lilly_st_ang.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Burlington construction: Champlain Parkway construction in 2023
