EAST HARDWICK – The East Hardwick Neighborhood (EHNO) organization announced Friday that it has reached its fundraising goal for the purchase of a radar speed sign.
“Your overwhelming support for our radar speed sign campaign has been truly inspiring,” they wrote in email and Front Porch Forum (FPF) announcements.
The sign will “bring traffic calming to our village,” they said.
The campaign exceeded its $4,000 goal, “receiving approximately $1,500 from 26 families and businesses.”
image courtesy EHNO
The $4,000 total includes a $2,500 grant from the Pleasants Fund of the Greensboro United Church of Christ previously announced.
EHNO raised the funds to add a second radar speed sign in East Hardwick village because the town agreed it would be helpful, but didn’t have the funds to purchase the second sign. The new sign will be added at the Main Street entrance to the village from Vt. Rte. 16, adding to the sign provided by the town on Church Street.
EHNO, with the help of the Town of Hardwick, is undertaking a major project this summer, they said in their FPF post. “We will be building a trailhead on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) at the point where it crosses Stevens Lane, near Church Street.”
A site plan is now being developed with a landscape designer/architect and Vermont Department of Transportation (VTrans) representatives have been consulted for feedback and approval of the plan, said EHNO.
The current plan calls for an aggregate base with an ADA compliant parking space, a 10-by-20 foot cedar pavilion, an information kiosk, an historic interpretive panel, bicycle racks, a bike repair station, a picnic table and grass areas.
Traffic calming and pedestrian/bicycle safety have been priorities for EHNO since the group’s first neighborhood meeting in 2018. The need for immediate action grew last summer, as increased use of the rail trail brought more bicycle traffic through Main and Church Streets, often by bicyclists seeking to bypass Greensboro Bend.
Finding ways to manage vehicle speed has been an ongoing challenge. The EHNO board believes that an additional radar speed sign will be a simple, effective step toward slowing traffic and making the village a safer place.
The small village center is in the intersection of four traffic corridors connecting to Vt. Rte. 16, Greensboro and surrounding farms. The 2024 Better Connections report included recommendations for safer streets. That report, now part of the Hardwick Town Plan, proposes improvements such as new sidewalks, pedestrian lanes, additional crosswalks, redesigned intersections and a traffic study on Vt. Rte. 16.
