Welcome to Aurieshire County!

[Sabretooth78 808]

Latest Update:

 

Residential Pop:  13,462

Commercial Pop: 2,849

Industrial Pop:     22,279

 

Some residential growth in Auriesville - The Village's population has now reached 4,158.

 

New development on the northeast end of town...

 

...and on the southwest end of town, along old US 5 (now State Rte. 5-A)

 

New Road Construction:

 

The top two priority items in the ACTCIS have been completed - the US 4 & 5 missing links.  Both were constructed to newly adopted Federal Highway design standards for horizontal and vertical alignments, you'll notice they are probably by far the best-looking rural roads in the region.

 

US 5 construction - Included in this project were a new bridge spanning the Pembroke River near its confluence with the Wannisquatausett, and a new connection into downtown Auriesville (complementing the existing connection on the eastern shore of the river).

 

Overview of the project site in Sherburne.

 

Construction underway.

 

The finished product.  Note that no property impacts were necessary for the new construction.

 

The Auriesville end of the project.  This end connects into an existing intersection with new US 5, at the point where US 5 used to veer west into downtown.  One parcel was acquired and demolished in order to fix a substandard vertical grade on the existing portion of roadway in the village.  This construction has also opened up a vast swath of previously inaccessible land, and will likely spark new development in this part of town.

 

US 4 construction -

 

Overview of the project limits, showing a portion of the connection from Sherburne into Chittenden

 

Construction well underway.  Note the relocation of the connection into Chittenden.  The existing connection included a steep and very dangerous hill right at the Town line.

 

Close-up of the new connection.  The location of the new alignment was originally intended to be a few tiles north (bottom of picture) until Town engineers realized a crossing at the railroad curve was undesirable (not to mention impossible!).  The old connection has since been removed and planted, and the signals at the intersection have been removed.

 

Final product.  The villagers wanted a signature span, but a modern low-span was chosen over a larger suspension bridge for two reasons: 1.)  The floodplain impacts were too great to construct the approaches, not to mention a railroad grade conflict, and 2.)   There was no need to maintain a navigable shipping channel as the river is barely navigable as it is, and there are even lower bridges farther downstream.

 

As a result, US 4 (red) has been relocated into Chittenden and now follows a mostly diagonal route into Putney.  County Rte. 400 (pink) has been extended to the intersection east of the new bridge (see the map in my last update for reference).  The part of US 4 unaccounted for (Sherburne to Putney) has been re-designated SH 4-A.

 

andrew george - No, as I've said before I have no real method to choosing names.  Nothing more than looking at a map and randomly picking names which I think fit the overall character of the region (with a few imaginary ones sprinkled in between).  Thetford, in this case, comes from Thetford, Vermont, which in real life is about 13 miles north of Auriesville (White River Junction, VT).

 

-Chris

[+Guest]

it looks pretty good. so are any one of these cities going to grow and boom and become a metropolis or are they all going reach that stage together???? 

[Nick- 0]

Why are you using a lot of names from south shore in massachussets? Do u live there?

[radenskloof 0]

Nice one, I have enjoyed reading your CJ so far (and thanks for the advice earlier on farm stuff).
It is fun to see some variations from mega cities!!!
I'll be checking here often.

[Mikeaut1 261]

Great job, I love that water, it really matches with the terrain. You should show some more pictures!

 

 

Edit - It'll also be nice to see some larger development along those rivers. Just like what cranescraper said.

[Sabretooth78 808]

I figured I would post an update since I've gone an inordinate amount of time without updating - due to BAT, life, etc.

 

Not a biggie update, as I haven't worked much on this region since my last update, but I thought I'd introduce a new transportation map.  The background:  The Upper Valley Planning Commission, Geographical Information Services (UVPCGIS) section, has recently undertaken a new mapping project whereby to address transportation capacity and safety issues on a region-wide platform.  This new system will be used primarily to best route highway upgrades in a manner consistent with topography and current land use, but also may have uses from a zoning and smart growth standpoint.  (600x600 image - click on image for a full-size 1280x1280 image).

 

Like no other image you'll likely see in this CJ, this map should give you a respect for the ragged terrain of the region!  See if you can find the most congested road, and the region's 3 tunnels!

Later this week I'll be travelling to my parents' for two weeks.  That will essentially halt my BAT progress, but I should be able to get some decent work done on this region.

-Chris

[Buffalonian1 0]

I love how you take a simple transit system and make it seem so interesting, and to add that it's usually just involved in rural or suburban enviornments! Who would've thought about including a rugged bumpy road as a list of things to fix? I also like the region image you made.  Don't know if you still work on your Cjs but I would like to see an update soon.

-Dan