Traffic jams help Killington

Traffic jams help Killington

April 02,2014

Am I the only one who thinks that the narrowing of the vehicular travel lanes on Woodstock Avenue is a good idea? Before your readers think I am crazy, let me explain.

As a Killington resident of over 40 years, I remember that during the late 1970s and 1980s that my wife and I would avoid doing errands in Rutland on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays, because the traffic was backed up, in many cases, to the Pico Ski Resort, with red brake lights running all the way into Rutland on Route 4.

The local Killington restaurants and night spots and entertainment venues benefited from the skiers who did not want to get tied up in the traffic jam going to Rutland. As a matter of fact, many of the locals, including us, who could not wait to do Rutland errands discovered Stratton Road, Post Road, and if we could get down that far, Town Line Road. However, now Stratton Road is not a good option because of the Rutland High School and Stafford Tech traffic.

The skiers, along with the locals, quickly discovered that they/we could make it to Woodstock in less time than it took to get to Rutland.

I also wonder why our local developers are being asked to fund traffic impact studies from neighboring towns, but, to the best of my knowledge, the town of Killington was never asked for our input on this bizarre change.

If this is being done solely for a handful of bicyclists, I can think of many more scenic and safer bike routes in Rutland County than one of the highest traveled intersections in the state of Vermont. As a matter of fact, after the snow melts some of the very best mountain biking trails in the East are located right here at Killington Resort.

It was great to read Mike Coppinger’s Rutland comments relating to the Downtown Rutland Partnership’s results and progress in Monday’s edition. That good news is most welcome to all of us during these times of economic doldrums. I hope for Rutland businesses’ sakes, on Woodstock Avenue and also downtown, that they do not suffer from the results of this ill-conceived idea.

However, this will certainly help keep our ranking as the fourth highest taxed state in the USA, without using clear discretion on how we spend our hard-earned tax dollars in Vermont.

BOB MONTGOMERY
Killington

Comment: Below is the article on the proposed traffic engineering changes on Rte 4/Woodstock Avenue in Rutland.
Vito