The Village of Essex Junction, with assistance from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) and the DuBois & King, Inc. (D&K) planning group, will develop a cohesive, believable and implementable plan for future public and private investments in the Village. “A significant amount of resident input has been collected since the Heart and Soul project began in 2012,” said Chris Sargent, Senior Planner for DuBois & King. “As a result, we have an excellent sense of what the community is looking for, including streets that are more walkable and vibrant, public open space, and more places to walk to, shop and eat. At the end of this project, the Village will have clear steps to implement the community’s vision.”
This phase of the Design 5 Corners project includes reaching out to the public for feedback and guidance to help refine the final plan. The first opportunity for public input is an online survey that focuses on the user experience when walking, biking or driving through 5 Corners. The input collected through this survey is vital to helping the project team identify the issues the plan needs to address, as well as measurable goals. A wealth of public input was gathered during earlier pieces of this process, and now the project team needs to weave street design and traffic circulation changes into the plan to get the community closer to the vision developed during the Heart and Soul and Design 5 Corners projects. The survey will be available on August 30th through September 28th. Please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5CornersProject to take the survey.
The second opportunity for public participation will take place on Wednesday, September 19, 2018. The project team will be at the Five Corners’ Farmers Market from 3:30-6:30 to have face-to-face conversations with people interested in the project and to continue to collect information about their experiences walking, biking and driving in 5 Corners. There will be a public meeting that evening from 7:00-8:30 at the Darkroom Gallery, where D&K will present their current findings and invite participants to provide feedback on the project.
The project will culminate in the New Year with draft amendments to the Essex Junction Village Comprehensive Plan that are intended to guide implementation of proposed street enhancements, foster infill development and improve the traffic circulation, safety, and equity in and around 5 Corners. This project is made possible through funding from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission.