A ceremony Friday celebrated a new installation that opens a small portion of the Long Trail to people with disabilities.
A new boardwalk designed and built by the Lamoille County Planning Commission provides handicap access to about an eighth of a mile of the Long Trail.
The 272-mile trail follows the main ridge of the Green Mountains the length of Vermont, from the Massachusetts state line to the Canadian border.
Gov. Phil Scott cut a ceremonial ribbon at the entrance to the new boardwalk; at the event were U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, planning commission members and staff, local officials and residents, and members of the Green Mountain Club, the steward of the Long Trail.
Scott praised the planning commission’s ability to work with other organizations to get the boardwalk done, despite challenges posed by beavers and wetlands.
Scott said his father was a double amputee, so the boardwalk had personal meaning to the governor.
“When we all get together and pull in the same direction, I believe we can accomplish a great deal,” Scott said.
“All that effort, where the focus is on cooperation rather than confrontation, has paid off,” Welch said. “We’ve built something for the ages.”
“This is exactly the type of project we should be doing,” said Mike DeBonis, executive director of the Green Mountain Club.
Funding for the boardwalk came from a federal earmark secured by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, as well as Lamoille Economic Development Corp., Spruce Peak, Green Mountain Club and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
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