The Mad River Path has received an $84,000 scoping study grant from the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives Program. Grant partners are the Mad River Valley Planning District (MRVPD) and the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission (CVRPC)
The engineering study will look at the alignment, opportunities, and challenges of the active transportation corridor running parallel with but separate from VT100 within the state right of way from Warren to Moretown.
Misha Golfman, executive director of the Mad River Path, said that the scoping study will begin with the selection of an engineering consulting firm, following the municipal assistance bureau selection process. The study, which will include public input, is expected to take approximately a year.
“Mad River Path will manage the project with the assistance of MRVPD and fiscal management by CVRPC. Following the successful scoping study the partners will be able to apply for the path construction funding on behalf of the Mad River Valley towns. When completed, the multi-use path will become a commuter and recreation corridor connecting villages, schools, services, businesses, and recreational sites,” Golfman said.
The funding includes a 20% match from Warren, Waitsfield and Moretown. Golfman and the funding partners applied for the grant in December 2023. The study will likely break the project into sections, identifying priorities, opportunities, and challenges. It will also solicit and take into consideration public input.
After the year-long scoping study, towns along the proposed route become eligible to apply for final design and construction funding through VTrans’ Bicycle & Pedestrian Program and Transportation Alternatives Program. The funding will come from the federal transportation budget and will require a 20% local match.
“We will likely need to break the project into several sections. Each section will have its own “independent utility” (making it useful even if the rest of the path is not yet completed). While it will take years to complete the entire path, we can see the first sections coming together by 2027,” Golfman said.
