WILMINGTON — Olga Peters seems to have had an extensive “conversation” with Agency of Transportation Program Manager Jesse Devlin, who, she notes, is the agency's highway safety and design program manager.
I have several thoughts regarding the article.
Over the past several years there have been, in the warm season - almost monthly - AOT (VTrans) workers paving areas of Route 9 between Wilmington and Brattleboro. This continual work has been about repairing and maintaining Route 9's road surfaces due to the increasingly heavy volume of the largest 18-wheeler and wide-load trucks that damage paved road surfaces - damage that ordinary local traffic would not continually cause.
Devlin says that AOT, where it can, will “address some safety issues when possible” and will increase the width of the road and provide 4-foot shoulders when possible, but said that “the AOT has no authority over truck traffic and thus no authority to prohibit trucks from using Route 9.”
Please, my dear fellow readers, and Ms. Peters, recall that Devlin is “the agency's highway safety manager.”
Mr. Devlin, are you saying that no matter what the condition might be that threatens the safety of folks who travel Route 9 daily, your agency has “no authority” when it comes to oversize trucks and 18-wheelers that are causing this safety threat to all of us who drive Route 9? A photo accompanying the story shows a wide-load truck traveling a narrow two-lane Route 9 section, dangerously crossing the road's center double yellow lines.
Peters offers a few brief sentences in her article about Windham County lawmakers inviting AOT staff to a meeting held in Marlboro on Oct. 4 where “a number of issues, including truck traffic and safety” were brought forward.
It's unfortunate that Peters or another Commons reporter could not have been present at this over two-hour meeting where Route 9's ever-increasing large truck traffic and safety were at the forefront of topics.
The AOT staff at this meeting included, along with Devlin, Vermont Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn, the head of VTrans; and Wayne Symonds, the agency's chief engineer. Vermont legislators at the meeting included representatives Mollie Burke (Brattleboro), Emily Long (Newfane/Marlboro/Townshend), John Gannon (Wilmington), Emilie Kornheiser (West Brattleboro), and State Sen. Becca Balint (Windham County).
Brattleboro Town Manager Peter Elwell and Wilmington Chief of Police Matthew Murano were also at the meeting. We were all thankful for their attendance and to Mollie Burke for arranging this meeting.
Below are a few of the questions asked of Flynn and his colleagues at the meeting as well as questions that have subsequently been presented to them.
To date, our questions have not been addressed by the agency.
Please, Ms. Peters - as a reporter, you were able to have a “conversation” with Devlin. Hopefully you can have access to him and others who can answer these questions:
1. If AOT does not have the authority to prohibit trucks from using Route 9, who might have this authority; the Legislature, the governor, or a federal government agency?
2. Are there specific national highway standards that Route 9 does not meet? Does Vermont have safety standards for state roads?
3. When did the National Scenic Byway designation for Route 9 happen? Is there a history of the process leading to this designation? Were the communities along Route 9 from Bennington to Brattleboro involved in this national highway designation process and decision?
4. Are there ways to lessen 18-wheeler/oversize trucks from Route 9? What about the question of meeting the safety standards of a National Scenic Byway, and what if these standards can't be met?
5. Does Route 9's designation as a Scenic Byway affect the ability to limit certain types of vehicles?
To my fellow Commons readers: Please come forward if you have concerns and want to express your thoughts about the current and ever increasing large trucks using Route 9 as their east-west corridor. By doing so, these trucks and their companies avoid tolls on the regional highways designed and engineered for traffic from this size of truck.
Please contact your local Vermont legislator, contact Governor Phil Scott (who is up for re-election next year), and Senator Patrick Leahy (who helps bring in federal highway funds).
Please also don't hesitate to contact Mr. Flynn, and Mr. Devlin with your concerns and thoughts.
At the Marlboro meeting, Flynn said how much he and his colleagues appreciate the public's input. Please speak up and write to all of our local newspapers and media.