Road construction stirs after winter lull

BY JASON STARR Observer staff

The third and final season of construction at the intersection of Industrial Avenue and Route 2 got underway this month.

The intersection has already been widened with new turning lanes installed entering and exiting Industrial Avenue over the past two construction seasons. This year, crews will be installing a stormwater filter at the Muddy Brook bridge — the Williston-South Burlington town line — and building a sidewalk up In- dustrial Avenue toward Rossignol Park.

The Town of Williston recently secured a $300,000 state “transportation alternatives” grant to continue the sidewalk to the White Cap business park. That will still be about 1,000 feet short of Rossignol Park, where an existing sidewalk travels north to Essex Road (Route 2A).

“We’ll continue to look for grants or funding to … connect us up to (Rossignol) Park and North Brownell Road,” said Williston Public Works Director Bruce Hoar.

“It’s an important connection to

Wages were competitive within Chittenden County when the contract was finalized last January but had already become outdated, Wells said, as other agencies have finalized contracts over the past year.

“There is a real high demand for police officers,” he said. “It’s a

The selectboard also accelerated “hiring and retention” bonuses that it created last year. The board made $10,000 available for officers to be paid over three years. The first payments totaling $2,500 were distributed last spring. Earlier this month, the board bumped up this year’s payment from $2,500 to $3,750. That means next year’s payment is reduced from $5,000 to $3,750.

“It’s still the same overall amount over three years, we just shifted how we spread it a little bit,” Wells said.

The Williston Police Department was fully staffed from last August to January, when four

“It’s the nature of law enforcement right now,” said Wells. “There’s a lot of openings in Vermont and nationally. There are more people retiring or moving into a different career path than getting into policing. It’s anticipated to continue for the next few years at least.” make so we have a (pedestrian) connection between the two major routes, Essex Road (Route 2A) and Williston Road (Route 2).”

The town has hired a consultant to assess its current and future policing needs. The consultant, JW Consulting of Arlington, Vt., is led by former Vermont State Police director Jim Baker.

The study will break down where calls for police are coming from, predict where future needs will be and assess the role of mental health professionals supporting the police force.

Sidewalk construction and the stormwater filter at the Muddy Brook will impact traffic flow on Route 2, causing a long-term lane shift near the bridge. But, according to Bruce Martin, project manager for the Vermont Department of see CONSTRUCTION page 24