Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont internship, for Shelburne News
SHELBURNE — Nicole Carpenter, chair of the Bike and Pedestrian Paths Committee in Shelburne, is passionate about creating and maintaining safe options for people to walk, cycle,and travel without motorized vehicles. The committee works to expand paths, sidewalks, bike lanes and trails in a way that allows residents to get to key destinations and improve mobility for all.
Q. Why did you decide to spend time doing this?
A. I’ve always been a big fan of walking and biking. When I have the opportunity to walk or bike instead of driving, I’ll find it much more relaxing, engaging and interesting. And I love the wind on my face and bike to work whenever I can.
I feel very fortunate and lucky that our community has wide shoulders, sidewalks, paths and trails. I would love to see more of them and was looking for ways to volunteer and contribute to the town.
Q. What are some of your favorite routes or places to walk in Shelburne?
A. I love Shelburne Farms and how accessible they have made it to go there and walk. It’s nice to just walk along the trails to the lake. You can come right back, up and down the hills. It’s amazing.
Q. What does a typical committee meeting look like?
A. We meet once a month at the Pierson Library. I would say a portion is dedicated to public comment. Then, we revisit our project priorities and discuss how to keep everything moving along. We also talk about maintenance to make sure that the trails and infrastructure we have right now can be maintained.
Q: What does a ‘good’ street look like to you?
A: I actually think Spear Street between Webster Road and Caspian Lane is great, and sort of the best case scenario. It has great moving traffic. There’s bike lanes on both sides of the road. An ideal street would be where everyone feels welcome regardless of mobility choice or how they get around.
Q: What are some major challenges that you have encountered?
A: The biggest challenge is getting funding. And public and landowner support, financial support, and integration into a larger network. Together, it’s quite difficult to get everything to line up.
Q: What are some of the committee’s priorities?
A: We are working to loop the Ti-Haul Trail to increase recreational opportunities for all and to create a family-friendly way to walk and bike to Shelburne Farms from the village. We are working to extend and improve infrastructure that connects to the village core. We are working to implement a crosswalk across U.S. 7 at Marsett and Bostwick Roads and to create a path to Shelburne Vineyard along U.S. 7, beginning to extend the walking and biking infrastructure to the south. We are also working to improve the lower Webster Road and U.S. 7 intersection for walking and biking, extending the sidewalk across the bike lane to better separate from the vehicle traffic.
Q: What makes this committee so ‘special’?
A: The committee has a great group of interested and engaged residents living throughout Shelburne. We work to keep our top projects moving along and to maintain the existing infrastructure. There are many steps and much planning to have a project move from identified priority to implementation.