• SUPPORT

    • Champlain

    RIGHTway

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    The Problem

    A goal of the Champlain Parkway was to decrease traffic in residential neighborhoods. Unfortunately, after investing decades and millions of dollars on design and planning, the Champlain Parkway as currently designed fails to achieve that goal while disproportionately impacting Black and Brown and low-income communities.  The Champlain Parkway will drastically increase traffic by 37% in the Maple-King neighborhood home to communities of color and low-income residents while the Parkway will remove 72% of traffic from the more affluent white South End neighborhood lined predominately by single-family residences.  

    The Solution

    Champlain RIGHTway is a multi-modal transportation alternative to the obsolete, environmentally harmful and racially unjust Southern Connector/Champlain Parkway proposal.

    The Champlain RIGHTway:

    • brings relief from traffic congestion to both the Maple-King neighborhood and to the Home-Flynn neighborhood without harm and injustice to the City’s cohesive black and immigrant community;
    • facilitates truck traffic to the South End’s industrial hubs to support economic vitality;
    • eliminates failed traffic configuration at Lakeside Avenue, ensuring continued access and growth in this most vibrant City sector;
    • reduces environmental and climate change impacts, with a smaller footprint;
    • provides throughout safe pedestrian and bicycle corridor from Route 7 at I-189 to the City center and Burlington Bikepath, improving the quality of life for the South End and the entire City;
    • saves significant real dollars by limiting litigation costs and constructing and maintaining shorter roadway.
    • directly addresses safety and City Climate Change Emergency and Racism as a Public Health Emergency policies
     
     

    The three elements of the Champlain RIGHTway

    1. NORTH: Pine Street from Marble Avenue to Battery Street. The North element of the Champlain RIGHTway consists of the northern segment of what the NEPA process calls Alternative 1, which is now called the Railyard Enterprise Project. This element relieves traffic congestion from the Maple-King neighborhood – a black and immigrant community as well as low income which is also a registered historic district – which had been a compelling goal for the project until abandoned by the City in 2009. 

    2. CENTRAL: Flynn Avenue to Pine Street at Marble Avenue. The Central element of the Champlain RIGHTway comprises pedestrian and bikeway construction along the project right-of-way to Lakeside, and along Pine Street from Lakeview northwards. This element supports the City’s commitment to green infrastructure, avoids truncating access to residential and vital economic areas with failed traffic conditions at Lakeside, supporting both the environment and innovative growth.

    3. SOUTH: Route 7 at I-189 to Flynn Avenue. The Southern element of the Champlain RIGHTway is effectively the existing C-1 section of the Southern Connector amended with a roundabout rather than dead-ending Pine Street, plus construction to Flynn Avenue, all with a cost-saving smaller tarmac profile. Briggs Street is removed and a roundabout serving City Market South End added. This element relieves congestion and truck traffic from the Home-Flynn neighborhood and provides easy access to the South End’s growing industrial hub.