[T]he Vermont Agency of Transportation is planning to ask the Legislature to fund improvements to a truck route in the western part of Vermont following a request from GlobalFoundries.
The Shumlin administration is proposing that the Legislature allocate $30,000 in fiscal year 2017 for surveying and other preparation work on Vermont Route 22A. The federal government would throw in $120,000 for preparation work.
Vermont’s portion of the road starts at the state border near Granville, New York, and ends in Vergennes. The road is about 30 miles long and hugs the western parts of Rutland and Addison counties.
GlobalFoundries uses the road to send trucks between its locations in Essex Junction and Fishkill, New York. Vermont is proposing to upgrade upgrade 14 miles of it over the next “probably four to six years,” according to Chris Cole, the secretary of the Agency of Transportation, or VTrans.
Cole said the state would not know how much money the project will cost until it reaches a more advanced stage.
Cole cited a 2012 study from the Rutland Regional Planning Commission that raised questions about the safety of 22A. He said the mayor of Vergennes has also raised concerns about truck traffic on the road.
“This isn’t really about GlobalFoundries per se. The transportation system supports the underlying economy, and we make targeted investments to grow our economy,” he said. “If this helps GlobalFoundries in their decision-making, great. Mission accomplished. We’re supporting the economy.”
Gov. Peter Shumlin told reporters that the state planned to upgrade the road at a news conference in January. That was about a week after the Emergency Board approved $1 million for the company to make infrastructure investments.
But the relationship surrounding the deal became more clear in emails obtained by the Associated Press through a public records request. Emails suggest the road project could cost $17 million — and that GlobalFoundries might find the timeline too long.
Pat Moulton, the secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, described the 22A upgrade in an email Dec. 29 to Jeanette Bombardier, a vice president for GlobalFoundries.
Moulton wrote she was “pleased to report” that an upgrade to 22A was coming and “is on the ‘top of the list’ for FY17 funding.” She attached a “tracking report” from VTrans and said construction on the road would start approximately five years from now.
Bombardier replied: “Regarding 22A, did you really mean to say FY 21 and 22?” But roads weren’t the only thing on her mind.
She also pushed for more money: “I want commitment that we will get the support required to get (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) funds headed to our campus.”
A representative for GlobalFoundries did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is a voluntary cap-and-trade program that nine northeastern states participate in. States get money through the program, abbreviated RGGI, when they lower their carbon dioxide emissions significantly and then sell off unused carbon credits in auctions.
Moulton said in an interview Thursday that GlobalFoundries would not be getting money from RGGI. “That’s not being considered,” she said. “We’d had some discussions about it, but we said that we’re just not going to consider that.”
More information about the state money GlobalFoundries has been offered is available here.
Correction: Route 22A does not go through Bennington County, as was stated in an earlier version of this story.
