the ask
neighbors along south union will be asking the city of burlington to use the repaving project to:
- convert south union to one-way northbound for cars
- add a protected two-way bike lane
- keep street parking on the west side of the street
sign the petition
add your name to ask the city to use the 2027 repaving to make south union safe for biking and walking. it takes about a minute and anyone can sign, no matter where you live.
sign the petition
the proposal
make south union one-way for cars heading north. that's already the direction most (85%) of the traffic on our street goes:
then use the space that frees up for a protected two-way bike lane: wide enough to be plowed in the winter, and safe enough for families & kids to bike to edmunds.
south union is typically between 29 and 31 feet wide curb to curb, which gives us enough space for parking, a travel lane that can still accomodate transit and emergency vehicles, and a protected bike way wide enough for 2 way travel and snow storage.
it would run from shelburne street all the way to main street, or on to college street, which has less traffic and is closer to city market.
this connection would be a vital mid-hill corridor, linking the south end neighborhoods, downtown, city market, callahan park, and more, and making it so much safer for families and children especially to get to school. south union is likely the flattest north-south route on the hill, so this would make a lot more of the city easier to reach by bike, not just for this neighborhood.
what about buses? emergency vehicles? deliveries?
those are good questions, and ones that will require more communication between departments and organizations than a community group can lead, but here are some ideas:
- rerouting the southbound bus route to winooski or willard
- designing the bike lane so emergency vehicles can use those — or otherwise treat the one way the same as any other narrow road in town
- have delivery vehicles park around corners or in parking spots
- have waste carriers pick up during slower times of day
ultimately, these aren't up to us to figure out. many other communities have solved these problems — hell, there are quite a few streets in burlington where the city has already worked out a solution, too.
traffic calming
when a group of neighbors got together on our porch this summer, we decided to advocate for three things:
- speed bumps and curb extensions
- closing the slip lane at the south end of the street, so drivers have to actually turn onto south union instead of driving straight onto it from the roundabout
- a protected bikeway
we believe all three of these need to work together to make south union a slower, safer street.
the good news: the city has already shared that they're interested in traffic calming as part of the repaving. they did a speed/traffic study earlier this fall, and we hope to see their data and designs soon — likely involving speed tables, curb extensions, and realigning the intersection with shelburne.
but that still leaves the bikeway. we think it's not only important for building an accessible bike network, but for slowing traffic too. some neighbors have shared their concern that turning a two-way street into a one-way street increases traffic speeds. many studies support this idea, but only when talking about turning the street into a two-lane one-way road, which removes the "friction" of oncoming traffic and gives drivers a wide-open road that visually encourages them to go faster.
this proposal won't do that — it creates a one-lane, one-way road. placing drivers between a parking lane and a protected bike lane gives them a physically and visually narrower lane, with more friction, which encourages them to go slower.
the slip lane
one example is the slip lane: a highway-style ramp that lets traffic coming off the roundabout keep its speed and swing easily onto south union. neighbors have already raised it with dpw, who has indicated they're planning to address it with the repaving.
once it's closed, drivers turning onto south union will have to turn at the intersection of south union and st. paul street, which will help slow and reduce traffic on our neighborhood street.
