Town gets grant for crosswalks

MIKE GLEASON, Staff Writer for the Bennington Banner
Article Launched: 10/26/2006 01:13:43 PM EDT
Thursday, October 26, 2006

BENNINGTON – The town has been awarded a $53,000 grant from the state's Agency of Commerce and Community Development for improvements to its downtown crosswalks.

“This is money from our transportation enhancement program,” said Kevin Dorn, chairman of the agency's Downtown Development Board. “The grant would allow the installation of new crosswalks, and the purchase of a machine (called an SR-60) that would allow the use of of a new, longer-lasting, thermoplastic material (in the crosswalks).”

Bennington's current crosswalks only tend to last for one or two years.

“What we've been doing is painting the crosswalks, but that wears off quickly,” said Scott Murphy, Bennington's director of community and economic development. “What we would do is put down a material called DuraTherm. We then melt it into the pavement, and when it cools, it's ingrained into the pavement.”

Murphy said that the material, in addition to being long-lasting, was very visible, enhancing the safety of Bennington's pedestrians. The machine can also be used for winter road repair, as it can superheat pavement.

According to Dorn, this project is not unique.

“We had a similar project in Rutland, where they moved to a longer-lasting material for crosswalks,” said Dorn. “It happened there a year and a half ago, and it's been very successful.”

Murphy praised for Rutland's crosswalks.

“We went up to Rutland to look at their crosswalks, and they look great,” Murphy said. “All the salt and sand from the winter just washes right off of the material.”

“The stuff has been proven in cold climates,” Murphy added. “Not just in Rutland – towns in Canada and New Hampshire have used the material as well.”

Officials said this is a matching grant, where the town would match the funds supplied by the state.

“(Our office) gets $800,000 in funds, of which $400,000 is already precommited to projects across the state,” Dorn said. “So this $53,000 represents a substantial investment on the part of the state.”

“This is the kind of downtown improvement project Governor Douglas really likes to see,” Dorn said.

Better Bennington Corp. Executive Director Robert Stannard applauded the grant. “Any improvement we make in terms of traffic in the downtown area can only be a wonderful thing,” Stannard said.

Stannard said he had noted that the crosswalks wore out quickly, and that this was not bad news.

“It's good news if the crosswalks wear out, because if they're not wearing out, it means no one's here,” Stannard said. “I think this was necessary money for the town to go out and get, and this will help us keep the downtown area jumping.”

Due to the nature of the grant, the project will initially focus on the 54 crosswalks downtown, which Murphy estimates will take two summers. After that, though, it could be used for crosswalks throughout the town.