NEW! Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement Released

What's New...

Comment Period for the Circ-Williston Draft Environmental Impact Statement Extended to Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is extending the comment period from November 8, 2007 to November 21, 2007 for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Section 4(f) Evaluation for improvements between I-89 and the Towns of Williston and Essex and the Village of Essex Junction, Chittenden County, VT known as the Circ-Williston Transportation Project.

VTrans, in cooperation with FHWA, prepared a Draft EIS for the Circ-Williston Transportation Project which became available to the public on August 10, 2007.  The end of the public comment period had been November 8, 2007, but has now been extended to November 21, 2007. 

Besides being available for review on this website, the DEIS also is available for viewing at the main public libraries in Burlington, Colchester, Essex, Essex Junction, and Williston; at the FHWA office, Room 216, 87 State Street in Montpelier; and at the VTrans project office at 20 Kimball Avenue, Suite 301, South Burlington.  (Please contact Ken Robie at 802-828-2645 to ensure that the VTrans South Burlington office is open when you wish to visit.)

Comments should be directed to Kenneth Robie, Project Manager, VTrans, 1 National Life Drive, Montpelier, VT 05633-5001, 802-828-2645, Ken.Robie@state.vt.us or Kenneth R. Sikora, Jr., Environmental Program Manager, Federal Highway Administration, Region1, P.O. Box 568, Montpelier, VT 05601, 802-828-4423, kenneth.sikora@fhwa.dot.gov. 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement Released

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), has published the Circ-Williston Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

The Environmental Impact Statement is a comprehensive study of the utility and impacts of possible solutions to the traffic problems from, to and within the transportation corridor from Interstate 89 to the towns of Williston and Essex, and the Village of Essex Junction.

A short list of alternatives was developed last year after a series of public meetings. Ten alternatives plus a no-action alternative are analyzed in detail in the DEIS . Alternatives include improvements along VT 2A, a new roadway in the Circ Highway corridor, and hybrid alternatives.

“The publication of the Draft EIS is a major milestone in the Circ-Williston project,” said VTrans Secretary Neale Lunderville. “The public now has an opportunity to read and comment on the environmental analysis before a preferred alternative is selected.”

The DEIS is available for review at the VTrans Project Office in South Burlington, the Federal Highway Administration office in Montpelier and at public libraries in Burlington, Colchester, Essex, Essex Junction and Williston. Copies of the DEIS are available on CD at no cost upon request. Printed copies are available for a fee.

To afford the public ample time to review the DEIS , VTrans is doubling the minimum required review period. Comments can be submitted until November 8, 2007. A public hearing on the DEIS will be held sometime in September at a location to be announced.

Written comments can be submitted via the Circ-Williston website at www.circEIS.org, or by mail and email to VTrans and the Federal Highway Administration at the addresses provided on the website.

After all comments and public-hearing testimony have been received and considered, a preferred alternative will be selected and documented in a Final Environmental Impact Statement to be published in 2008.

Since the EIS process began, more than 900 people have attended 26 public meetings and workshops concerning the Circ-Williston project.

Public Information Meetings Held May 22 - 24, 2007

Three public information meetings on the detailed evaluation of alternatives were held on May 22-24 in Burlington, Essex Junction and Jericho. Approximately 200 people attended.

Attendees mingled among some 40 information displays on topics such as the ten transportation alternatives studied, wetlands and habitat, historic resources, noise and air quality, indirect effects and cumulative impacts. Three television monitors showed models of how traffic would work at selected intersections if various alternatives were implemented. There was also a presentation that summarized the results of the detailed analyses completed to date to be presented in the Circ-Williston Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

Design Workshops Held

Three public design workshops were held on February 6, 7 and 8 to garner input needed to develop the Circ-Williston Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) short-listed alternatives. The workshops were hands-on with people working in groups to explore issues and to provide specific input into the design of the alternatives to be analyzed in the EIS. The workshops were not intended to compare alternatives but rather to help make the design of each alternative as good as it can be. See Public Design Workshops Held in February 2006.

Report of November Public Meetings

The report on public meetings held in Richmond, Burlington and Williston on November 15-17, 2005 is now posted on the website. Approximately 100 people attended the meetings where the short-list of alternatives were presented and the analysis which will be done in Step 3 of the EIS process was discussed.

Circ-Williston EIS Newletter is Published

The Spring 2007 edition of the newsletter is now available.