New mountain bike trail link will help connect Vermont

RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) - A new plan to link the Vermont towns of Pittsfield and Rochester is the latest step to help connect mountain bike trails across Vermont.

The Velomont Trail Collective has received a $526,375 grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission to build 10 miles of trails.

The grant will be matched with a total of $283,500 from the town of Killington and a number of other organizations.

One of the trail sections will link Pittsfield and Rochester by way of Chittenden.

Velomont Executive Director Angus McCusker says the concept of linking trails in Vermont has already been tried with hiking and snowmobiling trails. But it hasn’t yet been applied to mountain biking.