Royalton
Carolyn Radisch, senior transportation planner for White River Junction-based engineering firm Greenman Pedersen Inc., recently recommended to the Royalton Selectboard that the town pursue a project that would more than double the width of Chelsea Street’s sidewalk while providing handicapped accessibility to every store and installing curb extensions known as “bump outs” to help make pedestrians more visible.
The estimated $1,096,000 concept would also add four parking spaces compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, with striped areas providing space for wheelchairs to load and unload from vehicles. It was selected amid three preliminary concepts designed by GPI, which was hired by the town earlier this year to gather public feedback and price out various options.
The village would be eligible for grant funding covering 80 percent of the project from the Vermont Department of Transportation’s Bicycle and Pedestrian program, she said, and town reserve funding would go toward its approximately $200,000 match.
GPI’s selected concept for South Royalton will soon be forwarded to VTrans for approval, then be presented to the Selectboard again for a final endorsement, Royalton Town Administrator Rose Hemond said.
“The tentative timeline is to apply for grant funding in April 2019 and the town would receive it the following October before going out to bid for engineering and design services,” she said.
Reshaping the village’s sidewalk areas has the support of Hemond, who feels the handicapped accessibility measures are long past due and that it would be an economic boon by attracting more residents and visitors to the neighborhood.
“The town of Royalton has a vibrant village center that consists of two schools, shops, restaurants and numerous other businesses,” Hemond wrote in an email on Friday. “The potential benefits of this project will be that visitors and residents will enjoy safe walkways and ADA compliant sidewalks. … Well-maintained sidewalks and accessibility is an important investment that Royalton needs to make to preserve its viable downtown.”
The project would tier the sidewalk to two levels. Angled parking spots would connect to a 3-foot-wide lower sidewalk, separated from a 13-foot-wide upper level by short staircases and ramps.
A crosswalk would be added at the intersection of Chelsea, North Windsor and South Windsor streets, and both Chelsea Street sidewalks would feature raised extensions as visibility buffers for pedestrians. These extensions would also have wheelchair-accessible ramps.
“The bump outs really help pedestrian safety. They’re a lot more effective than cones or other ways to mark crosswalks,” Hemond said in a Friday phone interview. “The way it is now, you sometimes have to go to a different part of the street from where you’re parked and peek out to make sure it’s clear before you can cross.”
Because of the space needed for the bump outs and ADA spots, the design would reduce from 29 to 23 the number of spaces on the west side of Chelsea Street near its business fronts, and from 19 to 17 the number of spaces on Chelsea Street’s east side, alongside the green. Bump outs near the northwest corner of the green and at the crosswalk midway along the north side of the green would also reduce the number of spots on South Windsor Street from 28 to 24, Radisch said in a Friday phone interview.
The loss of parking spaces has been one of the main concerns residents have raised, Hemond said. However, there are ways to compensate, such as by converting the spaces on Park Street, along the east side of the green, from parallel to angled.
“That would make up for all 12 of the spots lost (in the selected concept),” Radisch said.
Some residents have also voiced concerns that the curb extensions would be difficult for plow trucks and other motorists to see, but Hemond doesn’t anticipate those issues. Similar bump outs have been installed in the villages of St. Albans, Vergennes and Northfield, Vt., Radisch noted in her presentation to the Selectboard.
“There are ways to make them stand out, with flowers or by painting them,” Hemond said.
The center of Chelsea Street would remain a loading zone for deliveries, which Hemond called “a necessity” for businesses because of a lack of alternative loading space. The historical horse trough near the north end of the green would be relocated about 10 feet onto a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the street, abutting the new crosswalk.
“Some people have said they don’t want it moved at all because it’s been where it is for so long, but the neighborhood has changed in a lot of different ways over the years since it’s been there,” Radisch said. “We talked to a historical consultant who said the new location would maintain its relationship with the village and with the green.”
At a meeting in September, half of 24 respondents to a survey selected the concept among three options. One of the others, with an estimated cost of $562,000, did not address handicapped accessibility into the stores, while another was valued at $1,056,000 and maintained a few more parking spots, but removed the center loading zone.
Chelsea Street merchants and shoppers on Saturday generally supported the concept, particularly its ADA-compliant measures. Scott Traudt, a Strafford resident who called South Royalton village “the hub of this area,” thinks an upgrade is worth the expense.
“The huge question is ‘What would we be adding by redoing the sidewalk?’ ” Traudt said. “If you’re making things safer, more pedestrian friendly and handicapped accessible, that’s just cause in my mind.”
Brewer and coffee roaster Andy Puchalik, who two months ago opened First Branch Coffee, a cafe on Chelsea Street, also supports the improvements. The main entrance to his shop is currently a short set of stairs.
“I’m a former special education teacher, so to me it’s good news whenever places become more accessible,” Puchalik said. “The big concern around here is losing parking and delivery space, so the fewer parking spaces we lose, the better. I’m sure there are creative ways that the town can do that.”
Wanita Brown, a Tunbridge resident who said she shops in South Royalton occasionally, pointed to Chelsea Street’s bumpy, cracked sidewalks.
“It would be nice if this was all level,” she said. “It would be easier to walk on.”
Other area towns have sought to remake their village centers. Bethel recently worked with the Better Block Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes the growth of healthy and vibrant neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Hartford officials are exploring ways to make downtown White River Junction more inviting, including the addition of ADA accessible parking spaces.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.