Burlington Standard

Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger and University of Vermont (UVM) President Suresh Garimella announced and celebrated the completion of the University Place street improvements. The City of Burlington and UVM collaborated on the project to make the central location safer for all people including pedestrians, bicyclists, and other active transportation users.

“This project is an example of how the City and our partners can work together to advance common goals for a safer, greener future,” said Mayor Weinberger. “This investment makes important water and sewer modernizations underground while ensuring that students, faculty, and visitors can travel safely whether they walk, bike, drive, or bus to work and school.”

Identified in UVM’s Master Plan and Active Transportation Plan as a high priority, the City’s improvements to University Place create a new multimodal street with a pedestrian crossing plaza, wider sidewalks, buffered bike lanes, and decorative lighting, as well as modernized water and sewer infrastructure. Located between historic campus buildings and the University Green, the one-way street can better accommodate student events and gatherings with long-term parking removed and an improved food truck area with permanent electric utilities to eliminate the need for generators.

“The University Place project has visually transformed this historic heart of UVM’s campus, providing a much-improved and safer connection between our most iconic buildings and the beautiful university green," said UVM President Suresh Garimella. "This project could not have happened without the strong support of our partners in the city of Burlington and we thank them for their commitment to this project.”

Background

• In February 2018 the City entered into a sustainable infrastructure agreement with UVM with respect to the City's Ten-Year Capital Plan. UVM’s investment, combined with that of Champlain College, allowed the City to bond for General Fund capital work with the two institutions making debt service payments on that bond over a 20 year period.
• In that agreement, the City and UVM agreed to jointly advance significant investments in the hardscape and streetscape of University Place that would improve safety and accessibility for students, faculty, and residents.
• Public outreach and stakeholder engagement began in the fall of 2020, followed by design. Construction on the project began in May of 2022 and was completed in November 2022, about 1-month ahead of scheduled.
• Total investment in the University Place project was $3.2 million, paid for by $1.375 million in City Capital Funds; $225,000 in ARPA funds; $1.6 million in UVM Capital Funds.
• The project reconstructed approximately 1,200 feet of sidewalk on the east side, built approximately 270 feet of new sidewalk on the west side, created 1.25 miles of bike infrastructure, included 1.88 miles of paving, and relined water and sewer infrastructure throughout the project area.

Original source can be found here.