Thanks Noski. I had heard that things were knarly up there.
Roxbury is closing their side of the Gap road beginning at 9am on Thursday 4/17. It will be closed for about 2 weeks, unless it dries up sooner. Follow progress on the Chamber's Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/madrivervalley
Susan Klein, Director, MRV Chamber of Commerce
Thanks Noski. I had heard that things were knarly up there.
Trouble with you is the trouble with me,
Got two good eyes but we still don’t see!
Not sure if the people in Vermont know about this - but they invented this thing called pavement. Us flatlanders have been using it since I bought my first Model T. All the money I spend in property taxes up there and they still don't have major roads paved. What do they do with all that money?
It is less expensive to maintain a good dirt road than a paved road. Also, with roads of the pitch and grade we have, I would never live on it. A few weeks of mud beats a crumbly paved road any day. Give me a good gravel road with deep ditches, especially in the marginal weather/freezing rain. Glazed pavement with a 9% grade is a recipe for an accident.... Gravel roads have grip. But, we appreciate your contribution to our infrastructure (it's being put to good use!)
Susan Klein, Director, MRV Chamber of Commerce
I tend to agree that the dirt roads have better grip in adverse conditions, but I found it curious that they paved he Warren side at the steepest pitch of the Roxbury Gap Road. Of course I'm not an engineer so there is likely good reason, but just found it strange that it is all dirt except there.
I was told that the pavement was put there when the whole slope started to fail. I guess the pavement helps in this case.
Anyway we pay taxes in Warren so that money would not be applied to Roxbury in the case of the Roxbury gap. that is the side that is shut down.
Trouble with you is the trouble with me,
Got two good eyes but we still don’t see!
Agree with Susan's appraisal of dirt - tougher on cars in one respect, but it keeps one on the road in ice better than pavement. I would challenge her take on 'good use' as the state budget is consistently over spending and under performing in revenue.
Of the roughly $5+B in spending I believe about 35% of that comes from the Washington. $50M-$70 M is the consistent overspending ( IMO) and maybe under taxing in other folks opinions.
Low unemployment is a bright spot.
With local taxes very high - especially if you are not a resident - does tend to bring in only higher income folks , but that is the locals choice - and despite my dismay at that - it's a free country and I can 'move'.
Only about 650,000 people in the state so how else are they going to raise revenue? We do have I think almost 30 states whose budgets are far better off in terms of balancing and some have rebated taxpayers. Imagine. And they are no where near as pretty or as close to large population centers like NY/CT/MA/Montreal.
All about peoples choices.
I hate to sound like a wise ass,... BUT with this logic, it would be even less expensive to not maintain the dirt roads or all paved road. Sorry - but i could not help myself. I drive down Lover's Lane in Northfield - that road is always a mess. i just don't understand why these roads don't get paved. It would also be cheaper not to resurface Rt. 89 - but that gets paved because it make sense and because i pay a ton of taxes. I'm sure there are locals in Northfiield that have to drive this road + the gap all the time and have unnecessary wear + tear on their cars as a result.
Speaking of which, is the access road being repaved? I recall some talk of that. Most of it is fine, but there a re few sections in need of some love.
The resident (homestead) tax rate in Waitsfield is $1.3848, the non-resident rate is $1.3618. In Warren resident s pay $1.3469 while non-residents pay $1.4344. Either way, the difference is not anywhere near as large as some second-home owners claim it to be on this forum and in Waitsfield is the opposite.
http://www.state.vt.us/tax/pdf.word....Waitsfield.pdf
http://www.state.vt.us/tax/pvredtaxrates.shtml
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