Recent Projects

 Road Erosion Assessments

In 2013 the Lamoille County Planning Commission, with assistance from Watershed Consulting Associates, conducted an analysis to map, inventory, prioritize, and prepare repair designs for Class 3 and 4 road erosion sites within the towns of Cambridge, Elmore, and Wolcott. The purpose of the project was to

1. better understand the scope of the erosion problems along Class 3 and 4 roads,
2. provide an inventory of erosion sites,
3. prioritize the erosion sites for impact to water quality by sedimentation,
4. provide a simple site map and erosion treatment techniques for the highest priority erosion sites, and
5. share the results of the study and discuss the erosion treatment techniques with the towns. 

The project was funded through a Grant provided by the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife Watershed Grants Program.

Prior to fieldwork, a geographic analysis of Class 3 and 4 town roads was conducted using GIS to identify areas prone to erosion that are likely to have an impact on water quality, in order to prioritize these areas for field assessment. The presence or absence of five factors – stream/road intersections, proximity of a road to stream (within 50 feet), proximity of a road to wetland (within 50 feet), steep slopes, and erodible soils - was evaluated to quantify the potential for erosion likely to impact water quality. For more information, access the full report HERE.

In 2014, LCPC expanded the assessments to include the towns of Johnson, Eden, Waterville and Belvidere.

Town Road Infrastructure Flood Damage Susceptibility: Belvidere and Stowe

In 2015-2016, LCPC conducted a GIS analysis to determine the percentage of river/road conflict in each town in Lamoille County. Based on this analysis, LCPC targeted two towns (Stowe and Belvidere) in which to identify areas where town highway infrastructure is highly susceptible to future flood-related catastrophic failure. LCPC performed subsequent GIS analyses in Stowe and Belvidere to determine the total constraints for flood vulnerability to town road infrastructure. Town road segments were searched for various constraints including the following: within a 50 foot stream buffer, within the 100 year floodplain, within the river corridor, at an undersized bridge or culvert crossing, stream incision, and steep road slope. The segments were scored for total constraints to identify flood vulnerability sites.  Through this project, LCPC has targeted areas to help Stowe and Belvidere prioritize future infrastructure projects to improve flood resiliency. Both towns are challenged in managing their town roads due to the amount of surface water in conflict with roads and structures. Proper sizing of road crossings and other river management strategies that work with the natural flow of rivers will help to avoid future damage to town infrastructure. Adhering to these strategies will help Belvidere and Stowe become more flood resilient in the future.  View the full Belvidere report HERE and the Stowe report HERE.

Lamoille County Solid Waste District Siting Analysis

LCPC conducted a GIS analysis for the Lamoille County Solid Waste District to determine the potential and optimal locations for a waste and recycling drop-off facility within Morristown. The Vermont Solid Waste Rules were used as the primary siting criterion, with land cover considerations and proximity to State Highways used as secondary criteria. View the resulting map HERE.