Bill > H0460

Introduced Session

This bill proposes to designate U.S. Route 5 for the approximately 190 miles from the State border with Massachusetts to the State border with Quebec, Canada as a bicycle corridor. This bill also proposes to require the Agency of Transportation to convene a steering committee to guide the development and construction of a bicycle route—consisting of one or more segments of bicycle lanes or bicycle paths, or both—to provide a safe and comfortable means of bicycle travel along the designated bicycle corridor. This bill also proposes to require the steering committee to: (1) develop a plan to address, at a minimum, the facilitation and H.460 coordination of individual municipal projects to build active transportation infrastructure needed to support the scenic, historic, and tourism goals of the Connecticut River Byways Program, as well as the fiscal costs of construction and maintenance of those projects and the U.S. Route 5 bicycle route; (2) identify possible funding sources, logistical considerations, and the estimated time frame for construction and completion of the projects and bicycle route; (3) examine the possibility of a segmented or phased approach to construction of the bicycle route; (4) evaluate the benefits of the projects to the tourism industry in Vermont in general and to the municipalities along U.S. Route 5 in particular; (5) coordinate the development of the bicycle route and municipal projects with existing walking and bicycling facilities and rail trails; and (6) develop the bicycle route and municipal projects in coordination with adjacent municipalities in New Hampshire and the New Hampshire regional planning commissions for those communities. The steering committee membership shall include representatives from the tourism industry along U.S. Route 5; managers of recreational facilities and rail trails along U.S. Route 5; conservation organizations along the Connecticut River; organizations dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation; historic preservation organizations from communities along U.S. Route 5; the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation’s Recreational Trails Program; H.460 the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council; and the Vermont Department of Health.

Committee Categories

John Bartholomew (D)*,  Mollie Burke (D),  Ela Chapin (D),  Leonora Dodge (D),  Kate Lalley (D),  Jim Masland (D),  Kristi Morris (D),  Phil Pouech (D),  Larry Satcowitz (D),  Dara Torre (D), 

House Committee on Transportation Hearing (00:00:00 3/19/2025 ) (on 03/19/2025)

Official Document