New Park and Ride
Has Experimental Surface
By M. D. Drysdale

A new two-level 85-car "Park ‘n’ Ride" at Exit 4 in Randolph will utilize an experimental new technology to deal with stormwater run-off from the paved lot.

A pre-construction meeting will be next Monday with the contractor, E. E. Packard of East Montpelier, according to Wayne Davis, the resident Park ‘n’ Ride expert at the Department of Transportation (DOT). The contractor may be able to get started immediately on the $1.4-million facility, he said.

When that happens, the current unpaved Park ‘n’ Ride will be closed until the new one can open. No special arrangements are being made for people to park near the Interstate during that period, Davis said.

The new Park ‘n’ Ride will be an entirely different kind of animal from the gravel strip currently on the site, which holds from 10-15 cars, depending on where they park. The new paved lot will have a lower level for a bus loop and for parking for the handicapped, and an upper loop for most cars. The entire lot will be lighted with modern non-glare lighting, Price said.

The 3.5-acre lot, purchased from Gil Rose of Braintree, has room for an expansion, Davis said.

"As far as I am aware, this will be the first Park ‘n’ Ride lot in Vermont with a bus lane and shelter," said David Palmer, president of the Stagecoach, the regional bus service. "Stagecoach passengers will now have a very attractive facility to safely and comfortably leave their cars for the ride on the 89er down to the Upper Valley."

The 89-er is the Stagecoach’s commuter bus service that includes a stop at the Park ‘n’ Ride for travellers to the Lebanon-Hanover area.

While the area is closed during the construction phase, Palmer said, this stop on the 89er schedule will be suspended. Randolph riders will instead board at the Stagecoach Depot in the Village and park in the municipal lot.

The biggest Park ‘n’ Ride in the state is the 107-car lot in Richmond, he said; there are 29 such facilities maintained by the DOT in all.

The state’s Park ‘n’ Rides have become very popular, he said.

"We’ve seen a big increase in response to the gas prices. When they spiked, most of our lots were overflowing."

Experimental Surface

The experimental surface of the new Randolph parking lot is "the most exciting aspect of the program," Davis said. It will utilize a "porous concrete" that will allow water to flow directly into the ground, instead of running off into ditches and streams.

"If you throw a pail of water on it, it will just go down as if into a sponge," he said. "You will never see a puddle on the surface."

The porous concrete surface has been used on one private Vermont parking lot but never before by the state.

The DOT hopes that the experimental surface, which looks slightly rough, like exposed aggregate, will help solve the problems of stormwater runoff from the state’s parking lots.

Stormwater has been the subject of intense regulatory and environmental scruitiny in recent years. Rain water that runs from parking lots picks up pollutants, including oils and gasoline from the vehicles. New state regulations are being put in place for new large parking lots.

Because the porous concrete is an experiment, the DOT is being required to put in a drainage system and stormwater retention pond, just as would be required normally, Davis said. The Agency of Natural Resources will monitor the results at the new Park ‘n’ Ride.

The $1.4 million for the new facility will come 100% from federal dollars, he noted. However, that doesn’t make it "free money" for the AOT, because these are the same dollars that roads and bridges are competing for.