Local Motion, in collaboration with city, neighborhood and other local leaders, helped to shape the vision for a safer North Avenue for everyone: people walking, biking and driving. North Ave serves as a critical connection between downtown Burlington with many of Burlington's most important destinations. So, what happens to North Avenue affects the daily transportation needs of residents across the city. 

 THE OPPORTUNITY: A pilot project was designed to convert the 4 vehicle lane section of the Avenue between Institute Rd and Shore Rd/Heineberg Rd to 2 lanes with a center turn lane and bike lanes in both directions. This design was chosen because it would improve safety on North Ave for everyone: people walking, biking and driving. A 4-lane North Avenue would never be built today because it is an unsafe, outdated design. The center turn lane allows a continuous flow of traffic, while reducing potential rear end and sideswipe conflicts, while making more room for bike lanes. It's a winning design that will increase the safety of North Ave for all users, regardless of choice of transportation.

CURRENT STATUS: After a year of temporary implementation, the pilot was voted into permanence on Monday, July 10th, 2017!

The goal of this pilot was to show that North Avenue can be safer and align with contemporary needs.

All Burlingtonians deserve a better street and a better neighborhood that ensures that the kids, adults, and grandparents in the New North End (and Old North End) are safer, healthier, and wealthier.

Learn More

Protected bike lanes are part of a transportation revolution in cities and towns across the US!

Read more about the Myths and Facts of this common type of redesign project known also as a "Road Diet."

Take a look at the City of Burlington's website for the latest project updates.

Check out an Avenue for Everyone for more background on the pilot.

The Railyard Enterprise Project is a planning and scoping project whose goal is to build out the street grid west of Pine Street and north of the Barge Canal superfund area so as to better connect Pine Street with Battery Street and promote economic development opportunities in the area.  Walk and bike connections are a key part of the project design.  

The Champlain Parkway is a major road planning and (eventually) construction project in Burlington that has been in the works for more than four decades.  Broadly defined, the purpose of the project is to improve access to Burlington from the South.  Local Motion has been engaged in the Parkway project for almost a decade.  Over the next few months, we will be adding a wide range of Parkway-related materials to this site.  In the meantime, please visit the official Champlain Parkway website.

BREAKFAST Better by Bike is an annual Local Motion event on or near National Bike to Work Day.  Visit a participating coffee shop by bike, and you'll get a free treat or discount—just for showing up on two wheels!

BREAKFAST BETTER BY BIKE 2016

Here's how it works.  On one of the two event days, use your bike to visit your favorite participating coffee shop.  Show your helmet, and you'll get a free coffee, a free baked good, a discount on your order, or some other perk at the discretion of the shop.  (It's different at each shop.)

And if you post a photo of yourself enjoying your bikeable breakfast on the BREAKFAST Better by Bike Facebook page, you'll be entered to win a $50 gift card to the store of your choice!  

BURLINGTON Better by Bike is a campaign to make Burlington the best small city for biking on the East Coast.  First came "Go for Gold."  That paved the way for "PlanBTV Walk Bike."  Want to know more?  Read on!

Here's the backstory.  In 2012, Local Motion began a concerted effort to accelerate the pace of change for better biking (and walking) in Burlington.  We set our sights on achieving gold-level recognition as both a "Walk Friendly Community" and a "Bicycle Friendly Community" (both of which are national recognition programs).  To that end, we worked with a variety of partners to create a "Go for Gold Blueprint" that assessed Burlington's strengths and weaknesses and identified opportunities for improvement for both walking and biking.  You can read more about the Blueprint at this link, as well as download both a two-page summary and the full text of the Blueprint itself.  

The Go for Gold Blueprint led to the creation of a "Go for Gold Leadership Team" under the aegis of the Burlington mayor's office.  The purpose of this team—which included high-level representatives of a variety of city departments as well as non-municipal partners—was to identify and pursue strategies that would advance the goals identified in the Blueprint.  The Go for Gold Strategic Plan was released in early 2015, and is available at this link.  

In mid-2015, Burlington Public Works launched the city's first-ever comprehensive planning effort for walking and biking, called "PlanBTV Walk Bike."  Local Motion was appointed to serve on the core technical committee for that effort, and has played a key role on two fronts: ensuring that the plan is both visionary and practical, and building support for its approval and implementation.  Read more about PlanBTV Walk Bike and learn about how you can help implement the plan at this link.

Burton Snowboards is a truly bike friendly business.  The company has made many investments to promote and support biking to work, from a covered bike parking area for staff to a self-service bike repair station and a loaner fleet of bikes available to staff for getting to off-site meetings.  Go Burton!  Read on to see more pictures of Burton's bike amenities.

Local Motion helped to shape the vision for a safer North Avenue for everyone: people walking, biking and driving. This street is a critical connection between downtown Burlington and the citywide institutions and regional attractions parks located in the New North End. As a member of the project Advisory Committee, Local Motion supported the approved Corridor Study, which calls for protected bike lanes, as well as many crosswalk and intersection upgrades, beacons and other pedestrian safety improvements that will create a safer, more pleasant neighborhood in the heart of the New North End.

Find out the latest about the North Avenue Pilot Project here.

May, 2016: We have just launched a brand new website and are working to fully update our project pages. We will have more information posted shortly. In the meantime, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please reach out to our Community Technical Assistance Manager, Katelin Brewer-Colie.