Photo courtesy of the city of Winooski
The construction of the Winooski Main Street Revitalization project is anticipated to take place over three construction seasons starting this spring and continuing through summer 2026.
The Winooski Main Street Revitalization project in Vermont is gearing up to break ground in mid-April, the Burlington Free Press reported March 25.
The long-awaited project will improve the stretch of Main Street starting at the New England Central Railroad bridge near the intersection with Maple Street and extending to the Winooski-Colchester town line near the Winooski School District.
The city held a construction information meeting earlier in March to discuss plans for the groundbreaking on April 15 and address residents' concerns.
Winooski officials intend to better the main roadway through town to "significantly improve subsurface infrastructure and reconfigure the road layout to accommodate all roadway users."
The project will include:
- New pedestrian/bicycle facilities.
- Upgraded traffic signal equipment.
- Streetlight and landscaping enhancements.
- Stormwater, sewer and water improvements.
- Relocating power and telecommunication lines underground.
- A one-way uphill protected bike lane.
- A downhill shared-use lane.
- Expanded sidewalks.
- Additional on-street parking.
- Upgraded signalized intersections.
The $28 million effort gained funding through multiple avenues, including a city-approved bond with the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank, Winooski's local options tax, rural development loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a USDA Forest Service grant, clean water and drinking water revolving funds administered by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VTDEC) and its Petroleum Cleanup Fund as well as the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
The project is anticipated to take three construction seasons to complete, from this spring to the summer of 2026, according to the Free Press.
Bellows Falls Train Station Platform Gets Federal Boost.
Due to the efforts of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, VTrans will receive a $1 million federal earmark toward a platform project at the Bellows Falls train station.
Sanders announced in March that the state agency will receive the federal earmark for the platform upgrade in Bellows Falls, a village within the town of Rockingham. The work is being planned in coordination with the community's expected purchase and renovation of the train station.
The two projects are separate, Rockingham Town Manager Scott Pickup told the Brattleboro Reformer for a story published March 24
The platform upgrade is being done for Amtrak, in conjunction with the state of Vermont, to improve the accessibility of those using The Vermonter, the train service that runs through Bellows Falls two times each day. Currently, those folks either leaving or boarding the train must use a small box to reach the steps, but under the new plan, the station's platform will be raised about 4 ft.
Another platform upgrade is expected to start this year in Brattleboro as part of a new train station being constructed there as well as a third platform in White River Junction.
Although the Bellows Falls platform project is separate from the town's project, they are being coordinated, said Trini Brassard, the assistant director of policy, planning, and intermodal development for VTrans, in speaking with the Reformer.
The train station improvement in Bellows Falls requires a 20 percent state match, so the funding currently available for the project is up to $1.2 million, according to Brassard, who added her agency's estimate for the work is presently under $1 million, although she cautioned its costs could rise.
"The platform project is to improve access to Amtrak services," she noted in an email to the Reformer. "This project will go forward as planned. If the town project is under construction at the same time, site coordination will take place, [and] we are also coordinating utility locations to ensure these are installed prior to the new platform where there are conflicts.
"During the design stage of both of these projects and a safety project being completed by the [New England Central Railroad], there was coordination to ensure plans were in sync," Brassard continued. "The construction's timing will be set once a contractor is selected."
Rockingham voters are being asked to bond for an additional $150,000 to provide a match for the train platform's federal and state funding. In 2022, voters approved $75,000 toward the purchase of the station.
At a Rockingham Select Board meeting March 19, Pickup gave an upgrade on the anticipated purchase of the train station.
Additionally, he said that "a lot of coordination" is needed between the town and the state over the platform project, including purchase of the station, and the rental of the land under the station from the state.
He also noted that it was his understanding that the platform project is undergoing a federal environmental review, according to the Brattleboro news source.
Gary Fox, Rockingham's development director, said he and others expected another round of rail-friendly funding from the state's Congressional delegation that would support a second, daily roundtrip of The Vermonter train service.
"A lot of these pieces are coming together," Pickup said, noting that the lease of the land under the station would likely be a "$1 transaction."
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