Riverside Avenue Topography

For over a hundred years Burlington has suffered slide after slide along the Riverside Avenue roadway. Seemingly not much has been done about this however, and if history has taught us anything (it seems as though it hasn't!) we will continue to see landslides here. The development of Riverside Ave started in the early 1900s. Once the area started losing tree cover, after ~1935, is when slides start becoming more dangerous due to more human development and structures, and more frequent. From 1955 on, Riverside Ave is constantly being rebuilt and reinforced, to no avail. The issue is a hot topic as the City of Burlington doesn't want to foot the bill, and the State doesn't either.

Through the second half of the 20th century, large slides continue to occur. In 1983, Koffee Kup Bakery owner is charged for the illegal dumping of fill on the Winooski side of Riverside Ave. However, the deforestation and development of the land surrounding Riverside Ave continues, as do the landslides. The most recent landslide occurred on the Halloween of 2019 during an extreme rain event. The possibility for more slides is certainly still prevalent on Riverside Ave.