Sixty-one years after Burlington’s Champlain Parkway was first conceived, city, state and federal officials celebrated the opening of the final section on Monday morning. Also known as the “Southern Connector,” the 2.8-mile parkway opens new access from Interstate 189 to Burlington’s Sou th End. Officials say it will help alleviate traffic congestion on Shelburne Road while diverting traffic onto Pine Street. Its proponents and critics had a hand in shaping the end result through decades of public comment, Burlington City Council votes and lawsuits.  At a press conference held at the intersection of the new parkway and Home Avenue, officials emphasized the length of time it took to finish the project. Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak rode in a 61-year-old forest-green Ford Mustang after officials cut a ribbon that measured exactly 61 feet long. A speaker played pop hits from the 1960s.  “Today is a day that generations of Burlingtonians have imagined, debated, questioned, redesigned and worked together to move forward to get to,” Mulvaney-Stanak said. “That number 61 is truly remarkable and reminds us that this project has never been just about building a road; it’s been about something much bigger.” The Champlain Parkway cost an estimated $84 million, according to Burlington Public Works Director Chapin Spencer. Responsibility was split three ways, with the federal government paying for 95 percent and the state covering 3 percent. The city covered 2 percent, along with some minor additional costs, according to Spencer.  The scope of the project has been drastically reduced over time, Mulvaney-Stanak acknowledged. The road that opened this week was the result of substantial “community feedback,” and there was often a great deal of disagreement, she said.  Former Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger stood beside Mulvaney-Stanak at the ribbon cutting. He said the project became a priority for the mayor’s office when he was first elected in 2012. The fact that he was unable to see it to fruition during his tenure made its completion “bittersweet,” he said.  “It is kind of crazy to me that we spent 12 years with this as one of our top priorities, and it was all we could do, with the full force of the mayor’s office behind it, to finally get through the gauntlet and get it into construction,” he said. “I’m proud we did it, but it shouldn’t be like that.” U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who attended the ribbon cutting, remarked that, despite more than half a century of false starts and roadblocks, the parkway’s completion exemplified a spirit of cooperation, something that was sorely lacking in Washington, D.C., these days. But such a lengthy gestation from concept to asphalt, he said, was inexcusable.  “Why don’t we in the federal government make certain that we take responsibility, so projects are not stuck and stalled, and they’re begun and they’re ended within the lifetime of the people who originated the project itself?” he said.  Vermont Agency of Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn recalled his childhood in the Five Sisters neighborhood of Burlington and how different the area was when the roadway was just conceived.  “The Champlain Parkway was intentionally designed as a city street, not as a highway,” he said, noting the extensive accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians that have come with the project, including a 1.5-mile shared-use path.  The Champlain Parkway will now funnel traffic into a South End that is rapidly being transformed amid Burlington’s search for answers to the post-pandemic housing crunch. The South End Coordinated Redevelopment plan and other proposed developments are set to turn a formerly industrial area into one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Vermont.  City Council President Ben Traverse (D-Ward 5) said he first got involved with the project as a concerned citizen. He said the Champlain Parkway “set the standard” for the level of community engagement and thoroughness that should be expected for major development projects.  “I think it’s time to stop leading with apologies on this project,” he said. “Many have spent years making this a more perfect project, improving it, refining it, making sure it serves Burlington as well as it possibly can.” To Spencer, the project benefited from its most vocal critics. As the former executive director of alternative transportation nonprofit Local Motion, Spencer was a critic who later became an advocate for the roadway. Legal battles brought by Allan Hunt and the late transportation advocate Tony Redington introduced traffic-calming adjustments and other measures for the roadway.  Advocate groups who want to reduce traffic in the King and Maple streets area have pushed for the Railway Enterprise Project, which would connect Pine Street to Battery Street through Vermont Rail System-owned land. Spencer said the city is still pursuing this connector and is currently in talks about acquiring right-of-way rights. He said he hopes to bring an update to the city council within the next few months.  The city will use traffic-monitoring cameras — no relation to traffic enforcement cameras — to study how the parkway changes traffic patterns over the next few years.  The post After Decades, Burlington’s Champlain Parkway Officially Opens appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less