The Shires of Vermont Byway Corridor Management Plan Nomination Package and Corridor Management Plan Presented on behalf of: Municipalities Town of Pownal Town of Bennington North Bennington Village Town of Shaftsbury Town of Arlington Town of Sunderland Town of Manchester Village of Manchester Chambers of Commerce Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce Manchester and the Mountains Regional Chamber of Commerce Regional Planning Commission: Bennington County Regional Commission Submitted to: Vermont Scenery Preservation Council Vermont Byways Program Manager, Vermont Agency of Transportation DRAFT 4_18_11 2 Table of Contents Corridor Management Plan ...................................................................... 1 Byway Overview Maps .............................................................................. 6 Byway Overview ................................................................................................................................. 6 Byway Access Loop & Covered Bridge Loop .............................................................................. 7 Hoosic River Side Trip ...................................................................................................................... 8 Batten Kill Loop .................................................................................................................................. 9 East Arlington Loop & Sunderland Hill/Hill Farm Loop ........................................................... 10 Kelley Stand Road Side Trip ........................................................................................................... 11 Introduction .............................................................................................. 12 Program Overview .................................................................................. 12 What is a Byway? .............................................................................................................................. 12 The National Scenic Byways Program ......................................................................................... 12 The Vermont Byways Program ..................................................................................................... 13 The Designation Process ................................................................................................................ 14 Benefits of Byway Designation: ...................................................................................................... 14 The Corridor Management Plan .......................................................... 15 Purpose and Requirements ............................................................................................................ 15 Purpose of the Shires of Vermont Corridor Management Plan ............................................ 16 The Shires of Vermont Byway: Overview .................................................................................. 17 Byway Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 17 Byway Route Overview ................................................................................................................... 18 Traffic Volume ................................................................................................................................... 20 Roadway Safety and Crash History .............................................................................................. 21 History of the Shires of Vermont Corridor ............................................................................... 23 Planning Committee History .......................................................................................................... 25 Introduction to Towns along the Byway Corridor ......................... 27 Pownal−History ................................................................................................................................. 27 Pownal−Demographics and Economy .......................................................................................... 28 Pownal−Physical Geography ........................................................................................................... 29 Bennington−History ......................................................................................................................... 30 Bennington−Demographics and Economy .................................................................................. 31 Bennington−Physical Geography ................................................................................................... 31 North Bennington Village−History ............................................................................................... 32 3 North Bennington Village−Demographics and Economy ........................................................ 33 North Bennington Village−Physical Geography ......................................................................... 33 Shaftsbury−History ........................................................................................................................... 35 Shaftsbury−Demographics and Economy .................................................................................... 36 Shaftsbury−Physical Geography ..................................................................................................... 37 Arlington−History ............................................................................................................................ 38 Arlington−Physical Geography ...................................................................................................... 40 Arlington−Landscape and Geology ............................................................................................... 40 Sunderland−History ......................................................................................................................... 41 Sunderland−Demographics and Economy .................................................................................. 42 Sunderland−Landscape and Built Environment .......................................................................... 42 Manchester and Manchester Village−History ............................................................................. 43 Manchester and Manchester Village−Demographics and Economy ...................................... 44 Manchester and Manchester Village−Physical Geography ....................................................... 45 Intrinsic Quality Resources ................................................................... 45 Intrinsic Quality Categories ........................................................................................................... 45 Pownal−Resource Narrative .......................................................................................................... 46 Bennington−Resource Narrative .................................................................................................. 47 Village of North Bennington−Resource Narrative ................................................................... 49 Shaftsbury−Resource Narrative .................................................................................................... 50 Arlington−Resource Narrative ...................................................................................................... 52 Sunderland−Resource Narrative ................................................................................................... 54 Manchester and Manchester Village−Resource Narrative ...................................................... 55 Implementation ........................................................................................ 56 Local Management Structure ......................................................................................................... 56 Goals & Strategies ............................................................................................................................ 58 Transportation .............................................................................................................................................. 58 Access .............................................................................................................................................................. 59 Sustainable Tourism and Marketing ...................................................................................................... 60 Preservation ................................................................................................................................................... 61 Economic Development ............................................................................................................................. 62 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 62 Appendix ................................................................................................... 63 Links to Town and Regional Plans ................................................................................................ 63 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 64 4 Significant Resource Matrix ............................................................................................................ 66 Significant Resource