Brian Bertsch from Fuss and O’Neill engineering has been selected as the municipal project manager for the Sugarbush shared use access path, a -.7-mile shared use path that will start at the Golf Course Road and run up the Sugarbush Access Road to Lincoln Peak.
Mad River Path executive director Misha Golfman made the announcement this week.
“Working together with Brian we’ve selected and interviewed three highly qualified firms, choosing a Burlington-based VHB Engineering as a design consultant for the project with Branden Roberts as a project manager. Last week we had a project kick-off meeting with the committee, VHB team, and VTrans. After the meeting, we walked the path, discussing its alignment, connectivity, and accessibility,” Golfman reported.
Golfman is chair of the project committee which includes Margo Wade from Sugarbush, Sam Robinson from the Mad River Valley Planning District, Rebecca Campbell from the town of Warren, and Reuben MacMartin from Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission.
“Because this is a federally-funded project, we move along the timeline prescribed by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans),” Golfman said.
Last August Warren received a $769,280 federal grant to build the first part of the Sugarbush Access Road Shared-Use Path. The Warren grant was the second largest award last year by the Vermont Agency of Transportation through its VTrans Bicycle and Pedestrian Grant program.
Phase 1 of the path will cost an estimated $1 million. It consists of final design and construction of a 10-foot-wide ADA-accessible Sugarbush Access Road Shared-Use Path, establishing a 0.7-mile-long off-road pedestrian connection from Inferno Road to Golf Course Road. The western terminus of Segment 1 is Sugarbush Resort (at Inferno Road), with the eastern terminus being workforce housing/Lower Woods Trail Network Trailhead/proposed Mad Bus bus stop structure (at Golf Course Road).
The majority of the path alignment is located within the public right-of-way, with the exception of a section owned by Sugarbush Resort. Segment 1 of the Sugarbush Access Road Path implements a key Major Off Road Connection identified in the 2015 “Mad River Valley Moves Active Transportation Plan” and further detailed in the 2017 “Town of Warren Sugarbush Access Road Path Scoping Study.” The project’s history goes back as far as the 1987’s “Preliminary Feasibility Study – Sugarbush Access Road Pathway Design.”
A future segment will continue down the Sugarbush Access Road to the Sugarbush Inn.
Golfman said the project committee will present the conceptual design to the public in November 2024 The NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) documentation and review are expected to be completed by February 2026 with the final plans ready by November 2026.
“We can expect construction to take place in the summer of 2027,” he said.
“This time frame is longer than any of us would have imagined, back in December 2023, when we were working on a grant application, however, we are looking ahead with optimism, recognizing that we are working for a long-term positive future. The committee will support the project by providing the design firm with all required documentation, holding regular monthly meetings to maintain forward momentum, applying for additional construction funding, and leading the public engagement,” Golfman explained.
“I am fortunate to lead the Access Road Path project, because it presents a unique opportunity to practice working with the federal funding and VTrans administration, and serves as a great learning platform for the future VT-100 corridor construction,” he added.
