VDOT: County’s portion of Meadowcreek Parkway on schedule

By Sean Tubbs
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Monday, July 6, 2009

Kenneth Shirley, District Construction Engineer for VDOT’s Culpeper District, appeared before the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on July 1, 2009, to give a detailed status update on the County’s portion of the Meadowcreek Parkway.

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Shirley reported that the contractor, Faulconer Construction Company, had completed 12% of the project. Crews have cleared all of the trees and vegetation necessary for construction to begin and grading is underway.  Diggers have excavated 43,000 cubic yards of dirt so far, enough to fill a football field with 20 feet of fill. More than 10,000 linear feet of stormwater pipes are ready to be installed.

Shirley said that very little of the construction is currently visible, except near Rio Road and Melbourne Road, the two end-points for the County’s portion of the parkway. Work on the drainage and stormwater system is proceeding north from the Melbourne Road end. A large hill will soon be excavated, and the earth will be used to support one of the bridges.

One of the bridge piers being constructed for the County's portion of the Meadowcreek Parkway (Source: VDOT)

“We have one the bridge’s piers in, and it looks absolutely beautiful with the stone finish,” Shirley said.  During his testimony, Shirley detailed the entire sequence of how construction of the road will proceed. Next spring, crews will begin to lay down asphalt in some sections. Next summer, the Parkway’s intersection with Rio Road will be constructed, which Shirley said would require a temporary road closure.  During that time, a section of the parkway will open as a detour for the closed portion of Rio Road.

Faulconer was awarded the construction bid for $11.8 million and work is expected to be completed by October 2011. However, the road will not permanently open until the City completes its portion as well as the parkway’s interchange with Route 250 and McIntire Road.