No to The Southern Connector!

Today was the deadline for submitting comments about the proposed Southern Connecter through the South End of Burlington. Here's the text of the letter I emailed to the state transportation agency.

I am a resident of Ward 5 in Burlington and am against the construction of the Southern Connector in Burlington. It will not relieve traffic. The proposed parkway may relieve truck traffic in some neighborhoods but it would only do so by moving that traffic to other neighborhoods (I live in Lakeside). We don't want more traffic in our city. Have you people ever heard of a carbon footprint?

I am a member of the Burlington Board of Health and am concerned about the environmental impact of building the Connector. Not only will we have increased long-term maintenance costs, exhaust pollution, traffic and noise, additionally, Burlington will have to pay for increased run-off pollution (effecting Lake Champlain) - already a serious and costly problem in the South End. Building this construction project will not make Burlington a green city!

My suggestion is to move the proposed South End (sic) Transit Center at the end of the current I-189 ramp (at the intersection with Home Avenue) and increase the public transportation (monorail, mini-buses) to downtown to accomodate commuters and residents along the route. Look to the long-term future and not just some short-term band-aid to "fix" traffic. I don't mean park & ride lots and kiosks either, but a concerted collaborative effort by the city, suburban towns and county transportation agencies to promote public transportaton. Have you thought of trains (the Champlain Flyer)?

No to the Southern Connector!!!

Thank you.

Sincerly,