Greensboro Awarded Grant Toward Trailhead Goal
Trailside parking is planned in Greenssboro Bend to the north of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail and west of Main Street.
GREENSBORO – The Town of Greensboro, in collaboration with the nonprofit Bend Revitalization Initiative (BRI) was notified by Senator Sanders’ office that the Northern Borders Regional Commission (NBRC) awarded a grant to the town for $153,500. When in-kind services and required matching funds are added, the total value is about $190,000.
The Northern Borders Regional Commission is a federal-state partnership for economic and community development within the most distressed counties of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. This year the NBRC received 137 applications for this grant cycle, requesting over $70-million in total funding across the four states. Greensboro was one of only 14 applications awarded in Vermont.
During the past year, a Bend Redevelopment Plan was prepared using a grant from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. The plan can be viewed at thebendvt.org. News and project updates are posted on the public Facebook page “Around the Bend”.
The plan focuses on the completion, in November of this year, of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, which crosses Main Street in Greensboro Bend. The goal is to create a trailhead to encourage trail users to stop in the Bend, provide business opportunities for residents, and provide an attractive recreation experience for Bend and greater Greensboro residents. Various amenities are planned, such as picnic tables, benches, bike racks, a bike repair station, restrooms and water.
Another aspect of the plan is to create an off-street parking area for those who will want to enter the trail in the Bend. This is critical to avoid congestion on Main Street. In addition, traffic calming structures will be installed on Main Street for pedestrian and biker safety.
Finally, the plan includes creating a business collective or pavilion which will enable local residents to sell their goods to trail users.
The Northern Borders grant will fund a large portion of the features contained in the Bend Redevelopment Plan. Dan Predpall, president of the Bend Revitalization Initiative (BRI), describes the win as transforming for the village. “This win is the culmination of two years of effort on the part of many Greensboro citizens and the Greensboro Select Board who worked to bring the trailhead concept to reality. This project and others to follow will bring positive change and needed investment to Greensboro Bend.”
Predpall continued, “Over the next two to three months, we will be working to raise the matching funds required by the NBRC to begin the project”. The BRI can be reached at bendrevitalizationinitiative@gmail.com.
