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Chittenden County

The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) worked in close cooperation with the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO) and formed a Corridor Advisory Committee (CAC) to study the U.S. Route 7 and Vermont Route 116 highway corridors. The CAC consisted of municipal representatives from the communities along those corridors – Burlington, South Burlington, Shelburne and Charlotte along Route 7, and South Burlington, Shelburne, St. George and Hinesburg along Route 116.

Phase I of CCRPC’s project consisted of growth forecasting and analysis for which CCRPC employed the CCMPO’s Land Use Allocation Model (LUAM). The model illustrated the relationship between land development patterns and improvements to transportation infrastructure. In Phase II, the CAC identified access management as the appropriate smart growth tool needed to respond to anticipated development along the highway corridors.

Land Use Allocation Model

Chittenden County RPC developed two land use allocation model (LUAM) scenarios to examine land-use activity and transportation functionality under current and alternative policies. The LUAM is a component of the Chittenden County Travel Demand Model, which allocates future households and jobs based on land-use and transportation policies to Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs). Two scenarios were developed:

  • Current Land-Use Policy Scenario
  • Alternative Land-Use Scenario

The Current Land-Use Policy Scenario simulates the land use pattern and transportation functionality of Route 7 and Route 116 after 25 years of anticipated household and employment growth in conformance with current municipal policies and land use regulations. In the Alternative Land-Use Policy Scenario, development is located based on proximity to existing development rather than current municipal policies and land use regulations.

In both scenarios, increased household and employment growth over a 30-year period resulted in increased traffic volumes on the Route 7 and Route 116 corridors. There was little difference in the transportation functionality along the total length of Route 116 between the two scenarios.
The lack of a significant difference in outcomes between the two scenarios suggests that the policies compared may not have been effective at reducing traffic flows. Use of the LUAM has shown that increased land-use growth results in increased transportation pressure on these two corridors. Additionally, land use policies applied by Chittenden County municipalities may not address commuting patterns from outside the county.

Access Management

The Corridor Advisory Committee determined that access management was the most appropriate tool for addressing the impacts of growth on the functionality of the Route 7 and Route 116 corridors in the study area. Appropriate access management techniques can be applied in both urban and rural settings along the corridors.

In order to preserve the functionality of the corridors, CCRPC determined that the following access management strategies would have the highest priority:

  • Limit direct access to major roadways.
  • Preserve the functional area of intersections and interchanges.
  • Limit the number of conflict points.
  • Provide a supporting street and circulation system.

CCRPC reviewed the land use regulations of the municipalities along the Route 7 and Route 116 corridors in order to determine if they were implementing the selected access management strategies. While all the communities implemented at least one of the strategies, Burlington was the only municipality which addressed all four.

CCRPC then adapted an access management presentation prepared by VTrans, which was taken out to municipal planning commissions and review boards. The RPC and MPO are continuing to work with interested municipalities to implement access management guidelines as the communities update their regulations.