Colchester Causeway Bike Path Re-opens! Bike Ferry Service Expanded! Lisa Friedman

I was thrilled to read in today's Burlington Free Press that the Colchester Causeway has officially re-opened as of four days ago.  The Colchester Causeway is at the northern end of the Burlington Bike Path.  It had been extensively damaged during the record floods two years ago with many parts of the bike path being impassible.  Many avid cyclists, myself included, have been anxiously awaiting the official re-opening.  The revitalization of the bike path has caused it to be improved over even its pre-flood condition.  The surface is much better.  Whereas before, the Colchester Causeway was more suitable for mountain bikes or hybrid bicycles, now the surface is conducive to regular thin tired road bikes as well.

Thank you to the 545 residents and businesses who contributed to the Friends of the Island Line Bike Trail and The Big Fix who raised $1,5 million dollars for the trail's repair and expansion of the bicycle ferry services.

The Colchester Causeway is the 5-mile unpaved northern portion of Island Line Trail. It connects to the south to Colchester’s Airport Park and the 7.5-mile paved Burlington Bike Path. The causeway is a multi-use trail that is popular with cyclists, joggers, walkers and fishermen.  The trail is bordered on two sides by beautiful large white boulders and looks like a jetty protruding out into Lake Champlain.

Local Motion, a local bicycling advocacy group, runs a bike ferry to transport cyclists across the small gap in the trail so that cyclists can continue on into South Hero.  The bike ferry began operating in 2000 and originally only operated on weekends in August.  The bike ferry will be expanding service this summer to run for 51 days.  Next season plans to be even better with Local Motion planning on manning the bicycle ferry for 75 days!  They are also planning on a new bike ferry, upgraded docks and ramps.  Suggested donation is $10 for the ferry ride between Colchester and South Hero.

The bicycle ferry schedule will operate Fridays, weekends and holidays from June 14th through September 2nd from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. The same schedule will continue through October 14th with thee exception of Fridays.  Local Motion is looking to fill 350 volunteer time slots for running the bicycle ferry this season.

If you would like to volunteer your time to help run the bicycle ferry or would like to make a donation to this wonderful organization, please contact Local Motion at (802) 862-2453 or by visiting LocalMotion.org.  You can also stop by their office located at 1 Steele Street #103 in Burlington on the bike path nearby Waterfront Park.  They are a great organization with the friendliest staff you can imagine.  Local Motion is a non-profit organization promoting bicycling, walking, running and in-line skating. They also offer an annual bicycle trip from South Hero to Montreal called the VerMontreal.  The trip runs for four days and goes approximately 220 miles.  I participated in the event in 2009 and highly recommend it!