Highway officials lean toward new leg of highway

By Jason Starr

The Essex Reporter

State and federal transportation officials are leaning toward the Essex-to-Williston leg of the Circumferential Highway as the preferred option in an upcoming environmental impact statement. 

Essex Junction’s determined opposition to other options under consideration to improve traffic flow between the two municipalities – particularly those that involve widening Route 2A and altering the Five Corners intersection – has carried a lot of weight in steering decision-makers toward building the Circ.

“We believe a Circ alternative is likely the preferred alternative based on impacts and performance,” said Vermont Agency of Transportation Project Manager Ken Robie. “That’s an inclination. That’s the way it’s looking for now.

The most vocal local opposition has come from Essex Junction, where officials have long backed building the Circ – a greater Burlington beltway through Williston, Essex and Colchester that has been on the drawing board for more than 40 years. 

The Essex leg (Highway 289) – a four-mile stretch from Route 117 to Route 2A – was built in 1993. Officials were close to breaking ground on the Williston-to-Essex leg in 2004, when a lawsuit filed by the Conservation Law Foundation halted construction and resulted in the current environmental review. A third leg is envisioned through Colchester.

A draft environmental impact statement studying the road system between Williston and Essex was released last summer. It includes 10 options to address traffic congestion as well as a status quo option.

Three of the options focus on increasing capacity on 2A as it enters Five Corners, with two calling for transforming Five Corners into a roundabout.

The so-called Circ options call for building a highway or boulevard-style road connecting Interstate 89 in Williston with the southern end of Highway 289 in Essex. The four Circ options differ only in the design of on and off ramps.

There are also three hybrid options that discuss both improving Route 2A and building a piece of the Circ road to Mountain View Drive.

Citizens, governmental agencies and advocacy groups were invited to comment on the options from August through November. State and federal highway officials have been organizing the comments since then and preparing a final decision.

VTRANS contacted Essex Junction officials in April to confirm their opposition to the Route 2A widening alternatives and the Five Corners roundabout idea. Because Essex Junction has authority over a portion of Route 2A, it would be difficult to proceed with widening or intersection improvements without the Village’s cooperation, Robie said.

The 2A improvements also conflict with the Essex Town Plan, and Essex Town officials have already formalized their opposition to the options involving Route 2A. Village officials are also strongly opposed to changing or moving Veterans Memorial Park, which would be required with major changes at Five Corners.

The town and village’s combined opposition is a major reason why the four Circ options are coming to the forefront.

“They have a lot of power to influence what would happen with the 2A corridor,” Robie said. “We can still pick a 2A alternative, but we know we would have a lot of opposition in that process.

“It’s something we’ll need to take into consideration when we’re choosing a preferred option. We would need their cooperation.”

But opposition to building the Circumferential Highway is also strong. The Conservation Law Foundation remains opposed to the idea.

“We would be disappointed because those are much more expensive alternatives with greater environmental impacts,” Conservation Law Foundation attorney Sandra Levine said. “The other alternatives solve the traffic problems, would cost less and have fewer impacts.”

As for whether the organization would take legal action as it did in 2004, Levine said that would depend on how the impacts are evaluated in the environmental impact statement (EIS).

“We’re waiting to see the EIS,” she said. “It’s not something we can prejudge.”

A series of final meetings is scheduled for June with VTRANS, the Federal Highway Administration, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA and Department of Fish and Wildlife have gone on record opposing the Circumferential Highway. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working on a water impact permit that will take the EPA and Fish and Wildlife concerns into account.

Highway officials and the Army Corps of Engineers are working together to recommend the same option, Robie said.

“We’re hoping to have something official by July,” he said.

A 30-day comment period will follow the release of the final environmental impact statement before a decision is finalized.

“The Circ alternatives outperform the 2A alternatives in traffic performance. And we know the 2A alternatives don’t comply with town or regional plans and have local opposition.”

Ken Robie

Vermont Agency of Transportation

project manager