Burlington, Vermont - May 4, 2011
Lake Champlain has taken over large portions of the Burlington bike path. And now there are heightened concerns that one of the city's largest events-- the Vermont City Marathon-- could be affected.
"So we're meeting challenges that we haven't faced in recent history in the city of Burlington and across the state of Vermont in terms of flooding in general, so our responses are in some respects routine and certainly, in other respects, not at all," said Mayor Bob Kiss, P-Burlington.
A few sections of Burlington's waterfront bike path have been hit particularly hard by the high waters.
"And as the water continues to recede and the wave action hits it, we expect there will be further damages," Burlington Parks and Recreation Director Mari Steinbach said.
The bike path makes up a significant portion of the Vermont City Marathon course. In a typical year, Vermont City Marathon runners would pass along the stretch of the bikeway near Perkins Pier, but this year that simply might not be an option. Marathon officials are already making preparations to reroute the race in a few locations if the bike path is still flooded or damaged.
"The two places that we are looking at right now is gonna be the stretch of the bike path coming out of Oakledge Park and then also right around the wastewater treatment plant," said Peter Delaney, the executive director of the Vermont City Marathon.
Event organizers say they have multiple contingency plans for the situations that may arise in the coming weeks, but they will not move the date of the event. With an estimated 25,000-30,000 people filing into the city for the race, they are planning for the worst, but hoping for the best.
"We certainly hope that the water is going to recede and we'll put everyone right through the marathon course and we won't have too many problems," Delaney said.
Ian Oliver - WCAX News
