But even if Vallee gets his curb-cut permit, he'll face arguments in the Act 250 hearings that his station will unduly harm aesthetic values and conflict with the Hartland town plan. The new AOT curb-cut policy gives Vermont's communities another tool for directing growth where it's wanted rather than where it's convenient for developers. The resulting permitting squabble went on through the early 1990s, with the AOT and FHWA arguing that the exit was needed to reduce traffic on side roads, and CLF and other opponents noting that the accident rate on existing roads was below the state average and that the exit seemed designed mainly to bring skiers to a nearby ski area. In 1996, Gershaneck retracted the AOT's request for an exit, prompting the FHWA to drop the plan. The taxpayers were saved a lot of money and Bolton was spared a lot of sprawl.
Few battles regarding interstate exits bring such clear victories, of course.
Anti-sprawl advocates must usually win their victories incrementally, by creating policies that discourage sprawl while encouraging downtown development. Some argue that Vermont's Act 250, along with other regulatory tweaks like the Downtown Bill's new curb-cut policy, can do the job. On the other hand, the furor over Act 60 will eventually calm down. By the time the Vermont Forum on Sprawl releases its policy recommendations in late 1999 or early 2000, legislators and Vermonters may be ready to push the sprawl agenda a little harder so that the state gets more Montpeliers and fewer Willistons. The public clearly supports such an agenda by now.