NEAL GOSWAMI, Staff Writer
Saturday, April 5, 2008

BENNINGTON — A busy intersection in Bennington will soon have a pedestrian underpass, thanks to a budget earmark secured by U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

Town Manager Stuart A. Hurd said the $500,000 appropriation will provide safe passage for pedestrians who wish to cross Route 7 where it intersects with Kocher Drive and Northside Drive. Welch will be in Bennington April 11 to formally announce the project, Hurd said.

Multi-use path

The proposed underpass is part of an effort to build a multi-use path connecting Molly Stark Elementary School and the Leonard J. Black Memorial Park with Willow Park and the Grace Christian School on the opposite side of Route 7.

According to Hurd, the idea of an underpass was first discussed more than a decade ago. It was developed from an analysis of pedestrian traffic along Northside Drive, where Wal-Mart, Price Chopper and several fast-food chains are separated by Route 7 from K-Mart, Staples and other stores.

For pedestrians, crossing the intersection to access stores and restaurants on the other side is quite dangerous, Hurd said.

"You wait at that little island in the middle and wait for the trucks to blow by you, and people cross there all the time," he said.

Welch spokesman Andrew Savage said the congressman works with municipal officials throughout Vermont to help fund needed projects.

"He travels around the state listening to local concerns and local needs. If a local need matches with the potential for funding for the project he will try to do that through the appropriations process," Savage said.

Savage said he was not aware of any opposition in Congress to the earmark, which was passed as part of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill.

Hurd said he mentioned the project to Welch when the congressman inquired about needs in Bennington.

Savage said Welch, who served on the Vermont Senate Transportation Committee before heading to Washington, understands that Bennington has many infrastructure needs.

According to Hurd, the $500,000 will not be available until October. The town must submit its application to claim the money, however, in June.

"All of the sudden you find out in March or April that you have an earmark and you have to scramble to get it," he said.

The underpass is expected to be constructed just north of the intersection, where a road once existed that connected Lovers Lane and Performance Drive, Hurd said.

The underpass will be heavily used once it is completed, Hurd said.

"If we can link them to Willow Park and the shopping center on the other side of the highway I think we'll have a lot more people crossing there," Hurd said. "It's a great opportunity for Bennington, but it's an opportunity for the state as well because the state never constructed pedestrian opportunities at that intersection."