clean and clear

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better backroads

Gravel roads can be a significant phosphorus source depending on how the roads are maintained and upgraded. The majority of gravel road miles are maintained by municipalities, and Vermont towns average 46 gravel road miles each. Vermont’s roads effectively become part of the stream network during a rainstorm or spring melt, with the roadside ditches more often than not discharging directly into streams, lakes or wetlands. Eroded material contains significant amounts of phosphorus and thus, as with all eroded soil, is a source of phosphorus to Lake Champlain and other important waters in Vermont.

The Vermont Better Backroads Program’s goal is to promote the use of erosion control and maintenance techniques that save money while protecting and enhancing Vermont’s lakes and streams. The Vermont Better Backroads Program accomplishes this by:

• offering grants to towns to fix road erosion problems
• offering grants to towns to inventory and develop capital budgets to fix road erosion problems
• providing on-site technical assistance to towns
• providing the Vermont Better Backroads Manual which details cost-effective procedures towns can use to reduce the impact of their roads on streams, lakes and wetlands.

The Better Backroads Program has been offering grants and technical assistance since 1997. New additional funding made available through Clean and Clear will significantly increase the funds available for grants and technical assistance. During the first years of the Clean and Clear, efforts will be made especially to involve towns in the Missisquoi Bay and St Albans Bay watersheds, although grants and assistance will still be available elsewhere in the Champlain basin and statewide.

Typical road erosion problems seen in Vermont include:

Steep eroding ditches or road edges	Eroding culvert inlet or outlets	Eroding roadside banks

Better Backroads Grant Program

Faced with tight budgets, many towns address erosion problems with a short-term approach, and end up repeatedly “band-aiding” a problem year after year. The Better Backroads grants are intended to help towns fix eroding sites optimally and correctly in order to reduce erosion and save the town money over the long run.

Typical erosion prevention projects funded:

Rock-lined ditches over 5% slope	Stable culvert headers	Stabilize eroding backslopes

Grants are provided in two categories.

A. Road Inventory and Capital Budget Planning

Reduction of road erosion requires planning and budgeting to realize cost savings and road improvements. Eligible projects under this category must include: (1) an inventory of road related erosion problems affecting water quality in a particular watershed or the whole town; (2) the sites identified must then be prioritized by problem area and; (3) this must be followed up by the development of a capital budget plan to correct these problems over a certain period of time. The selection committee will consider:

• involvement of leadership, for example, the selectboard and the Road Commissioner/Foreman
• commitment to pursue its adoption by the selectboard/governing association
• must address erosion control/water quality issues

B. Correction of a Road Related Erosion Problem

The Better Backroads Selection Committee will base its evaluation on the following criteria: water quality benefits, longevity and effectiveness of solution, specific support available to meet match obligation, use of aesthetic vegetative solutions where applicable and partnering efforts. Projects can be enhancements of a scheduled project that provide additional erosion control benefits such as ditch stabilization in conjunction with a culvert replacement, or it can be a stand alone erosion control solution. Priority funding will be given to those projects identified in an existing Road Inventory/Capital Budget Plan. (A copy of the Plan must be submitted with the application.)

Example projects:

The maximum grant is $7000, and a 25% local match is required. Grant availability notices are sent to towns in early spring of each year. The state-wide grant program is administered by the Northern Vermont Resource Conservation and Development Council, who can be contacted about the grant program, technical assistance and for a copy of the Vt Better Backroads Manual.

Jarrod Becker, Business Manager
Phone: 802-828-4583
Email: rcdbizmanager@yahoo.com
or
Linda Boudette, Backroads Technician
Phone: 802-793-7816

Northern Vermont Resource Conservation and Development Council
617 Comstock Road, Suite 2
Berlin VT 05602-8498

You can also contact the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation for information:

Susan Warren
VT Department of Environmental Conservation,
Water Quality Division
103 South Main St., Building 10 North
Waterbury, VT 05671-0408
phone: 802-241-3794
susan.warren@state.vt.us

Other partners of the Vt Better Backroads Program include:

VT Local Roads Program
VT Department of Environmental Conservation, Water Quality Division
VT Agency of Transportation
George D. Aiken Resource Conservation and Development Council