What do streetlights, crosswalks, curbs and public safety have to do with artists?  

The Danville Transportation Enhancement Project aims to nurture collaboration between artists, community members and engineers in the re-development of a section of U.S. Highway Route 2 that runs through the center of Danville. 

COLLABORATIVE VISION SHAPES HIGHWAY PROJECT -The Danville Transportation Project is a partnership between the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Agency of Transportation [VTrans], and the Town of Danville, Vermont.  

Over the years, much of Route 2 throughout Vermont has been widened and better designed, but the Danville section of the highway remains to be completed. 

Since the 1970s, VTrans had sought input from Danville residents in the re-design of the three-quarter mile section of Route 2 that runs through Main Street in the town, but could not reach agreement on a construction concept.

In 1999, the Council began to facilitate a process in which artists were engaged to help residents articulate a community vision for the road's redesign to help break the decades-old impasse, and the Danville Project was born.

The Goal of the Project is to enhance the essence of a small, close-knit rural community by providing a safe, attractive and comfortable pedestrian environment in the Village of Danville that celebrates its unique historic, built and natural features.

The Challenge of the Project is to upgrade road conditions through the Village by meeting Federal Highway System requirements to provide better sight lines and improved vehicular and pedestrian safety while respecting the aesthetic and cultural fabric of the community.

The Process is collaborative in nature and draws on Vermont traditions of public meetings, civic dialog and representative democracy. Participation by professional artists infuses the process with a creative approach to problem solving and openness to new solutions. A Local Review Committee oversees the Project from conceptual design through maintenance, including installation.

This first-ever partnering between the Council and VTrans is an exciting and precedent-setting venture. The Project is significant as a model of a successful interagency partnership driven by an awareness of the importance of Context-Sensitive Design. With broad public, private and multiagency support, the Danville Project provides a successful template designed to help small communities deal with Quality of Life issues as they relate to the demands of infrastructure.

Through Senator Leahy’s leadership role in the U.S. Senate, the project has been lauded as a model of Context Sensitive Design, and has received two federal appropriations: the first in 2004 for nearly $2 million, and the second in 2005 for $5 million.  These commitments of support and funding have helped secure a place in the lineup of projects that will be undertaken by VTrans.

The Project is scheduled for completion by 2010.