This story by Tommy Gardner was first published in the Stowe Reporter on June 13.
The long-awaited Lamoille Valley Rail Trail never had its grand opening party last year, when planned celebrations were thwarted by historic July flooding that also wreaked havoc at many spots along the 93-mile cross-state byway.
Who said you need a baby shower to have a first birthday?
A year later, the trail is almost entirely open, and officials with the Vermont Agency of Transportation say it will likely be back to new by the end of the summer.
According to the transportation agency’s rail trail website, railtrails.vermont.gov, as of this week, the only two spots where the trail is still closed are both in the East Hardwick area.
“We are working to reroute traffic along local low-volume roads,” Jackie Cassino, the agency’s rail trails program manager, said earlier this spring.
Those two spots include a three-mile stretch between Stannard Mountain Road and Ward Hill Road, which effectively cuts twice as much of the trail out with a 1.2-mile detour along a dirt road.
The other spot is right along the Lamoille River at the intersections of U.S. Routes 15 and 16. That’s not far from one of the most striking sites of sheer destruction from around the state — a riverside hotel that was partly swept away by the flooding.
Shortly after last summer’s flooding, which primarily happened July 10-11, the state transportation agency, which manages the 93-mile trail, told people to stay off until the damage could be assessed.
Gov. Phil Scott had planned an end-to-end ride of the rail trail with Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Saturday after the flood, but they were forced to cancel the trip. A midway celebration was supposed to happen in Morrisville’s Oxbow Riverfront Park, but that location resembled the surface of the moon more than a popular green space.
A local electric bike rental company that had just purchased a passenger van to offer shuttle service temporarily pivoted to offering cannabis farm tours instead.
However, little by little, people started using the trail, first in small stages, then for larger stretches.
Amy Tatko, director of communications for the agency, said no big events are planned for this year.
The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail is the longest of its kind in New England.
The 93-mile trail follows the route of the Lamoille Valley Railroad, which was founded in 1877 and shut down in 1994. It was a scenic train ride, dubbed “The Covered Bridge Line,” and leaf-peeper excursions for fall foliage viewing ran into the The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers acquired the right of way and was responsible for converting the railway into a trail.
In 2020, the state took over responsibility for building — and funding — the rest. While the rail trail is closed to most motorized vehicles, snowmobiles are still allowed, a nod to the decades of work done by VAST.
All in all, the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail features five tunnels, 53 bridges, 96 crossings, and 525 culverts. It passes through five counties, 18 communities, and 36 total miles of it are adjacent to the Lamoille River.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Lamoille rail trail quietly reopened in year since historic flooding.