MAIN STREET IS HAVING IT'S MOMENT

Burlington's most ambitious street transformation is complete -- and the city has never looked better.

If you haven't walked Burlington's Main Street lately, now is the time. After more than two years of construction, one of Vermont's most iconic urban corridors has emerged as something genuinely worth the wait: wider sidewalks, lush tree belts, a protected bike lane, public art that stops you in your tracks, and the kind of grand, walkable streetscape that makes you want to linger.

The project, known as Great Streets BTV, set out to rebalance how Main Street's public right-of-way is used -- shifting from a corridor where 50 to 75 percent of the space between buildings was dedicated to cars, to one where 60 percent serves pedestrians, cyclists, and the broader life of the street. Diagonal parking gave way to parallel, freeing up room for wider sidewalks, flexible outdoor spaces, rain gardens, and the kind of street-level experience that downtown Burlington has long deserved.

Below the surface, the transformation runs even deeper. Infrastructure more than 100 years old -- the kind that was quietly strangling housing development and business growth -- has been replaced. The sewer and water work alone will prevent untold headaches for decades to come.

But  what you'll notice first is just how beautiful it all looks when you first crest the top of the hill.

Burlington City Arts commissioned four permanent public sculptures as part of the project, and the results are nothing short of extraordinary. Lydia Kern's "Anthology," installed near City Hall Park, is a brightly colored archway of flowers gathered from Burlington neighborhoods and suspended in resin -- when light hits it, the effect is not unlike a stained-glass window. Come June 24, two more pieces join the streetscape: "Block by Block," a Lego-esque tower of interlocking shapes referencing Burlington's neighborhoods, going up outside Honey Road at Church and Main; and "Magnus," three locally carved granite snails large enough to sit on, positioned in front of the courthouse, their glowing trails embedded in the sidewalk.

The crown jewel, already in place, is Nancy Winship Milliken's "Lakebone" -- a ghostly white, 48-foot black locust tree that floats 12 feet above the new streetscape on two steel posts, honoring Burlington's history as a lumber port and nodding to the stormwater systems now running beneath your feet. Its installation on June 3 drew a community parade complete with drumming from Sambatucada and puppet snow geese. It was, in the best possible way, very Burlington.

None of this came without cost. Businesses along Main Street navigated real hardship over the course of construction -- rerouted foot traffic, lost outdoor seating seasons, and in some cases, permanent closures. The community felt it. And the community pushed through it together.

Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak put it simply: "The trees, especially, being in now -- you can get a sense of why we have these wider sidewalks." That sense of possibility is exactly what's waiting for you right now.

And Main Street is just part of the story. Just up the road, Winooski is wrapping up its own $28 million Main Street Revitalization -- a full reconstruction of nearly 4,000 feet of US Route 2/7 -- with expanded sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes, underground utilities, and new landscaping, all aimed at making Vermont's most culturally diverse small city even more walkable and vibrant. Meanwhile, at Burlington International Airport, the $68 million Project NexT terminal expansion has transformed the gateway into the region for visitors arriving by air -- more gates, a dramatically improved passenger experience, and a facility that serves as a classy upgrade to the destination it serves.

The greater Burlington area has been building toward something. Come see what it looks like now that it's here.

The city will throw a proper celebration on July 17 and 18 with a Main Street Block Party -- the street open and alive in a way it hasn't been in years. But you don't have to wait. Come walk it. Bike it. Sit on a granite snail. Grab a table outside a restaurant that finally has its sidewalk back.

Main Street is ready for you.