Vermont

[The Ghostbuster]

There was to be some sort of roadway built off the end of Interstate 189? I know it wasn't going to be a freeway. Is that project still going to be built, or has it been canceled?

[froggie]

No new news.  Past news can be found by searching for it in this thread.

[jcroyer80]

http://www.champlainparkway.org/   

Latest info there. Click recent activity to see updates.  Project still in design.  Earliest construction could start is 2018.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2015/12/05/champlain-parkway-inches-forward/76660256/

[Alps]

Interesting sign... takes a little while to read it properly. https://goo.gl/maps/fEbyDYgDYH22

[froggie]

The reverse of the "ALT TO VT 108" signs on the northbound 100 turn-off to Moscow.

[shadyjay]

A couple updates:

I-91 Brattleboro Bridge:
The new bridge is still not unified, but it's getting close.  The website has changed the bridge opening date to Spring 2017, so looks like one more winter of work. 

I-91 Rock Stabilization - Rockingham:
When heading south last Thursday, the crossover was still in place, with the southbound lanes closed.  Earlier today (8/17), traffic is now using the southbound roadway once again, and I saw crews removing the temporary southbound lane from the left lane of I-91 NB.  The removal work included crews pulling up the white stripe over the yellow stripe left shoulder and a crane removing the jersey barriers.  Still some work to be done before full 2-lanes/each way resumes. 

I-89 sign work:
Most new ground-mount signs are up from Hartford to Royalton, EXCEPT the overheads around the I-91 jct.  Did see a new foundation laid for the 89SB overhead at 91jct.  Northbound old signs remain around Exit 1 and the Sharon Rest Area. 
Some photos can be found at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/shadyjay/albums/72157659016202648.  Just scroll to the end of the album. 

[Pete from Boston]

Anyone know what this marker designates?  My cousin found it on 100B in Moretown.

[froggie]

An old state aid marker.

[Pete from Boston]

An old state aid marker.

Can you elaborate a little on what that means?  I can't relate these numbers (other than 1967) to anything. 

According to the online VTTrans documents,100B was added to the system in 1935.  Could this be for a side road?  (I don't know its exact location.)

[froggie]

The S 016 is the state aid indication here.  Couldn't tell you more without seeing it in context or knowing exactly where it is.

[Pete from Boston]

The S 016 is the state aid indication here.  Couldn't tell you more without seeing it in context or knowing exactly where it is.

Thanks, that was enough to get me going.  It's the upgrade and relocation of 100B from the 1960s:

http://vtransmap01.aot.state.vt.us/rp/dpr/DIAsBuiltFilestore/ROW_Plans_/01R30270650/PDF/01R302.pdf

I'll have him get the other side to see if the next project down (There was an S0167(6) south of here, not sure about north) is on there.

[froggie]

A VTDigger article from this morning (linked below) includes a photo from downtown Bennington, VT which shows that the former 2-lens left-turn signal at US 7/VT 9 has been replaced by a more standard 3-lens signal.

A check of GMSV shows this change was made by last November.  I haven't been in downtown Bennington for a few years so I missed the change.

http://vtdigger.org/2016/10/17/bennington-commercial-real-estate-market-heating/

[Alps]

A VTDigger article from this morning (linked below) includes a photo from downtown Bennington, VT which shows that the former 2-lens left-turn signal at US 7/VT 9 has been replaced by a more standard 3-lens signal.

A check of GMSV shows this change was made by last November.  I haven't been in downtown Bennington for a few years so I missed the change.

http://vtdigger.org/2016/10/17/bennington-commercial-real-estate-market-heating/

Yeah, it was there at least last summer if not earlier.

[cl94]

The new signal was definitely there in August when I went through.

[shadyjay]

Brand new "Welcome to Vermont" sign installed on I-89 Northbound, coming up from N.H....


IMG_2578 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

What's interesting about this one is its very large, much larger than the small one installed on I-91 North last year.  What's also interesting is that it seems the project to replace signs from Hartford to Royalton has wrapped up, but yet the northbound signs for the I-91 jct have not been replaced.  Southbound, all signs are replaced and there's a new overhead on the ramp to I-91.  But northbound, outside of a South 91 sign in the gore at Exit "0-S", nothing was replaced. 

[KEVIN_224]

I like that one a hell of a lot more than what greets you in Guilford now at the MA border!

[froggie]

Noticed last night (enroute to dinner) that the northbound I-91 ramp junction with US 5/VT 105 (Exit 28/Derby) now has a traffic signal.  Likely a result of a new WalMart being built in Derby (that should be open this spring).  This makes it the northernmost I-91 interchange with a traffic signal (previously, it was Exit 13/Norwich).

[vdeane]

Brand new "Welcome to Vermont" sign installed on I-89 Northbound, coming up from N.H....


IMG_2578 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

What's interesting about this one is its very large, much larger than the small one installed on I-91 North last year.  What's also interesting is that it seems the project to replace signs from Hartford to Royalton has wrapped up, but yet the northbound signs for the I-91 jct have not been replaced.  Southbound, all signs are replaced and there's a new overhead on the ramp to I-91.  But northbound, outside of a South 91 sign in the gore at Exit "0-S", nothing was replaced. 

They should replace the welcome signs on I-91 and I-93 with that.

I take it the exit to I-91 is now "Exit 0"?

[shadyjay]

The I-89 interchange with I-91 is still unnumbered.  New signs and gantries in place southbound, but still the old signs northbound, as evident by the old & faded I-91 shield on the sign behind the welcome sign seen above. 

I have noticed stakes in front of the new (last year) welcome to Vermont postage stamp-sized sign on I-91 NB in Guilford.  I'm not sure if they're left over from the previous sign replacement project, or if that one will eventually get the full size version as seen on I-89 NB.  What is interesting is, prior to the new Welcome sign on I-89, there was a small one in its place, though not quite as small as the I-91 sign. 

Funny the mention about the traffic signal at Exit 28... as I was driving north yesterday, I was recalling how many I-91 exits in VT have traffic signals on the ramps, vs those in CT.  Are VT Exits 13 & (now 28) the only ones? 

Also on I-89 NB, there's a new blue sign saying "24-HOUR TRAVEL PLAZA - EXIT 7" just past the Sharon welcome center (before Exit 2).  Came up quick - couldn't get a shot of it. 

[froggie]

Funny the mention about the traffic signal at Exit 28... as I was driving north yesterday, I was recalling how many I-91 exits in VT have traffic signals on the ramps, vs those in CT.  Are VT Exits 13 & (now 28) the only ones? 

Correct.  And even at that, one of the Exit 13 signals goes into flash mode at night (northbound ramps), and only the northbound Exit 28 ramps have a signal.

A temporary signal existed at Exit 11 (US 5/WRJ) during the bridge replacement project, but it is long gone now.

Also on I-89 NB, there's a new blue sign saying "24-HOUR TRAVEL PLAZA - EXIT 7" just past the Sharon welcome center (before Exit 2).  Came up quick - couldn't get a shot of it.

Guessing this is because there's nothing along I-89 between WRJ and Berlin that's open past 9pm...they probably consider the Cumbies in Randolph (on VT 12) too far from the Interstate, whereas there's a Maplefields right at the light just off Exit 7.

[shadyjay]

That, and they just opened said Maplewood Travel Plaza as a public-private partnership to offer an off-highway rest area/info center, but with commercial enterprises (food, fuel, etc).  The Sharon center is open till 11pm, but with the closing of the Randolph rest stop (NB) several years ago, a void was left in on-highway services.  Maplewood is classified as an official welcome center as well...
http://informationcenter.vermont.gov/centers/maplewood

There is talk of building a similar facility like Maplefield in Randolph, at the vacant land right off Exit 4 where the driving range used to be (and the whale's tails a WHILE ago before they were moved to South Burlington), but I believe it's on hold.  If that facility gets built, I bet VAOT closes the Randolph-SB rest area. 

[cl94]

I'll need to get out there in a couple of weeks to check it out, then.

[KEVIN_224]

Doesn't Exit 2 in Brattleboro (VT Route 9 West - Bennington) have a signal? Exit 1 in Brattleboro's south end doesn't. I know, since I've taken that exit 4 times since August of 2015. Exit 3 in Brattleboro (US 5/VT Route 9 East - Keene, NH) used to have a traffic light. The rotary took care of that!

As for Exit 11 in White River Junction, where exactly was the light? By the gardens planted by some locals?

[cl94]

Exit 2 does not. Probably should, but does not.

[froggie]

Exit 3 in Brattleboro (US 5/VT Route 9 East - Keene, NH) used to have a traffic light. The rotary took care of that!

Roundabout.  Vermont doesn't do rotaries (yes, there's a difference between the two).