The following passage is taken from the Rutland Town - Clarendon US 7 Corridor Management Plan:

A long-term strategy proposed in the US 7 Corridor Plan: Rutland Town and Clarendon, VT (2009 by RSG for the Rutland Regional Planning Commission) is to develop a local road network generally located west of US 7 between US 4 and the Rutland Town/City of Rutland border that connects Farrell Road, Randbury Road and other dead-end access roads. This network would help reduce turning movements and related congestion along US 7 by providing an alternate route for traffic circulating between adjacent properties. It is a long-term strategy because it involves multiple landowners and businesses and may be implemented as opportunities arise.

New Local Roads This strategy focuses on the study corridor north of US 4-West. The Town of Rutland provided a sketch that showed conceptual locations of local roads that would connect parcels along the west side of US 7 between the Rutland City line and Green Mountain Plaza. For the purpose of this study,

the local road concept has been expanded to the east side of US 7 as well. A conceptual plan of the local road network is shown in Figure 36. New connections should be evaluated within the general areas circled in Figure 36. Final alignments need to be coordinated with a more detail assessment of land

owner operations and plans and other constraints.

The local roads would provide an alternate route to US 7 for vehicles traveling to, from and between businesses. The function of these roads is to provide local circulation and access, helping to preserve the capacity on US 7 for through traffic. This strategy helps achieve the goal of balancing mobility for through

traffic with access to adjacent parcels. These roads would provide an opportunity to expand a local network of sidewalks and bicycle facilities, and could facilitate redevelopment and infill of under-utilized parcels. The strategy also supports access management. As parcels are redeveloped, the local roads would create an opportunity for rear access and can funnel left turning traffic-to-traffic signal controlled intersections. For the purpose of this analysis, the following assumptions have been made regarding the amount of traffic diverted to the local roads:

* 50% of the vehicles turning left from Holiday Inn Drive and Green Mountain Plaza. This movement experiences the most delay and would encourage a higher percentage of motorists to seek alternate routes to destinations in the north;

* 25% of southbound vehicles turning right into Holiday Inn Drive and Green Mountain Plaza;

* 25% of southbound vehicles turning left into Diamond Run Mall; and

· 25% of vehicles turning right from Diamond Run Mall with a destination to the north.

The construction of the proposed service road would allow the closing of two curb cuts to 60 US Route 7 South (owner has agreed) and the elimination of left turns off Randbury Road on to US Route 7 South.

For the reasons stated above and for the continued economic development of the Town of Rutland and the region the proposed U.S. RT 7 S service road should become the next Town/City US Routes 4 & 7 Upgrade Committee project.