Charlottesville Tomorrow Blog

Three options to be recommended for Eastern Connector

The Steering Committee overseeing a corridor location study for the proposed Eastern Connector has agreed to recommend three routes for the proposed road. The Committee will meet again in late May to review the presentation that the consultant will give to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and the Charlottesville City Council later this year.

Both jurisdictions contributed $250,000 to hire the firm PBS&J  to oversee the study, which was charged with identifying a minimum of three corridors for the proposed road which steering committee members acknowledged would not be constructed for decades.

The routes to be recommended are:

• Route 20 to  Rio Road via Pen Park (2 lane or 4 lane)
• Polo Grounds Road (reserve as transportation corridor)
• Profitt Road Relocated (reserve as transportation corridor)

At its previous meeting in March, the Committee had asked PBS&J to calculate how much additional traffic capacity would be provided if these roads were built as four-lane roads, as opposed to the original expectation of a 2-lane connector road. Steering Committee members received a packet filled with tables predicting traffic volumes for 2025 under dozens of possible permutations, up to a completely theoretical 8 lane Pen Park route.  According to these tables, a 2-lane Pen Park Route would carry over 16,000 vehicles a day, whereas 4 lanes would carry 22,000. 

“There’s a certain demand to move back and forth across the [Rivanna] river,” said Lewis Grimm with PBS&J. Currently the Route 250 bypass is the only way for vehicles in the urban ring to cross the river. The MPO’s UNJAM 2025 traffic forecast projects a traffic volume of 65,500 vehicles a day over Free Bridge. Grimm said the construction of a four-lane Pen Park route, which would include a new bridge over the Rivanna, would reduce that figure to 54,800. But would that be enough to justify building the road?

Former City Councilor Kevin Lynch said that would still technically represent a failing level of service according to VDOT’s methodology.  Mark Graham, Director of Community Development for Albemarle County, said the public would not support the construction of a road if the traffic forecast still shows a failure.

“None of these scenarios is going to improve the existing condition,” Graham said. “We’re only talking about how much worse it’s going to get… if we come out and the message comes across that none of these is going to improve the existing situation, we’re D.O.A.”

Lynch said there had to be a way to explain that to the public.  Grimm suggested it would be possible to present the data in such a way that would describe when traffic congestion would be worse, possibly by depicting the growth of peak periods over time. As an example, Albemarle County Planning Commission

Chairman Cal Morris (Rivanna) said Pantops is now experiencing a third rush hour at mid-day, as people who work there drive around in search of a bite to eat.  Grimm said he has seen the phenomenon in other areas, where new suburban multi-use centers are built without a place to serve lunch.

County Transportation Planner Juandiego Wade asked the Committee how they felt they should proceed. Should they  move on to a public  information hearing such as the one held in November of last year, or present to the Board and Council? After some discussion, they opted to go to the elected officials first for a presentation.

Lynch said he felt it necessary to explain to the public why the committee sought the data for a four-lane road.

“We wanted to justify to ourselves that the demand is really there… and we can look at this and say yes, there is a lot more demand  and if we build larger roads, they would get used. Whether or not those roads are politically feasible to build, that’s a whole other question,” Lynch said. He warned it would be difficult to translate a spreadsheet with data to the public, and that it would be hard to construct the political will to build a new road. 

Albemarle County Supervisor Ken Boyd (Rivanna) asked his fellow Steering Committee members if they felt they had been charged with determining the political feasibility of the roads. Lynch said no, but he said the committee should recommend options that can actually get built.

“I don’t want to put a solution on the table that we know is a non-starter,” Lynch said.  He suggested the Committee consider City Council’s recommendation to evaluate a transit-only option for the Eastern Connector.

Grimm said transit could be a viable option, but that the community would have to display the political will to support an expensive transit-only option, as well as a willingness to actually use it.  Lynch said he felt Charlottesville would be more inclined to support a transit-only link than a four-lane road. Boyd said he would be more interested in a satellite system of buses on Pantops to help get people around during the day.  City Resident John Pfaltz said transit was a separate but related issue, and Boyd said the Regional Transit Authority study currently under way would cover much of that ground.

Pfaltz also said he would recommend the Polo Grounds and Proffit Road Relocated alternatives be studied, even though the traffic forecast data shows that neither would be as effective as the Pen Park route.

“I’d love to see this committee lay it out and say these roads will be built sometime in the future so that the land is not preempted by easements, and so that people know that those roads are going to go in at some time, and it doesn’t come as a big surprise,” Pfaltz.  Wade said elements of those two roads are already in the county’s Six Year Plan, though they are not currently strategic priorities.

Lynch said he thought that was a good idea.

“Call it a transportation corridor or something and say we can’t justify it in 2025, but we know looking at the County build-out patterns it’s going to be there at some point, “ Lynch said.

Grimm reminded the Committee that the MPO is currently updating its long range plan, and that those solutions chould be considered as part of that process.  The UNJAM 2035 process begins on May 10 with a half-day regional summit.

Boyd said his fellow Supervisors would be cautious about reserving corridors.

“If we start planning transportation corridors, development is going to follow along these corridors,” Boyd said, adding that the County’s policy is not to build roads in rural areas.

Cal Morris said he wanted the steering committee to send the message that the eventual Eastern Connector is “a first step in a multi-step operation” to increase the area’s transportation capacity.

The Steering Committee will next meet on May 30, 2008, with appearances before the City Council and the Board of Supervisors to follow in the summer. Boyd said the Board would likely not hold a public hearing on the Eastern Connector until it takes up its Six Year Secondary Road Plan next winter.

Sean Tubbs

Eastern Connector won’t be a “silver bullet”; part of larger complex puzzle

Lewis Grimm of PBS&J

The Eastern Connector Steering Committee met on March 28, 2008 for a discussion of whether any of the three remaining route alternatives would be effective in relieving traffic congestion on Route 250, the region’s main road for east-west local traffic. This was the first time the Committee has met since the Charlottesville City Council expressed their concern over the direction of the study .

At the last Steering Committee meeting in February, Lewis Grimm of the engineering firm PBS&J was directed to further study the possibility of making improvements on Route 250 to see if they would have any effect on congestion.  According to County Transportation Planner Juandiego Wade, the committee did not direct PBS&J to develop these into full alternatives, but simply wanted more information.

However, City staff grew concerned when they read Grimm’s 21-page letter detailing how certain concepts would affect the traffic model.  The concepts include widening Free Bridge to 6 lanes, widening High Street in the City to four lanes as it approaches Route 250, and building a new bridge south of Route 250. These concepts have already been dismissed by the Committee.

No sitting Councilor sits on the Committee, though former Councilor Kevin Lynch’s
appointment remains valid.  However, Council voted in early March to send a message to the consultant, PBS&J, that any alternative that went through the City would not be considered by them to be a viable alternative. The March 4, 2008 letter reads:

“Some of these alternatives may be worth exploring as part of other studies, but we do not feel that they address the goals of this particular study or problem…The City entered into a partnership with Albemarle County to study a way to move traffic from Route 29 North to Pantops and back that did not go through the City road system. Studies have shown this to be an ever increasing travel movement in the County that has never been adequately addressed…”

Council’s letter was the starting point for the Steering Committee’s March meeting. Grimm asked the committee if they needed any further clarification on what he had submitted, and if they had any questions about the City’s letter.

Mark Graham, Albemarle County’s Director of Community Development, said he never expected the Route 250 improvements to stand-alone as the only alternative, but a recognition that none of the alternatives that were taken to the public last fall (Route 20 to Rio Road via Pen Park, Polo Grounds, and Proffit Road Relocated) would be effective in relieving traffic congestion on Free Bridge.

“One of the County’s main objectives with this whole exercise is to bring 250 to an acceptable level of service,” Graham said. “I really saw what was being proposed with the Route 250 improvements as supplemental  or part of a package of improvements.”

Graham said it was important for the community to identify a short-term, mid-term and long-term answer to address congestion at Free Bridge, given that the current funding picture would prevent any of the roadway alignments from being built for several years if not decades.
He suggested spot improvements to Route 250 as short-term solutions, and an Eastern Connector could be a mid-term approach.

Members of the Committee listen to Grimm's explanations

Chairman Ken Boyd (Rivanna) of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors said he did not understand why City leaders were concerned. “Our traffic [data] indicate that there’s more traffic to alleviate by somehow providing for those people who are going to and from the City,” Boyd said.

Grimm went on to explain how the Pen Park option would attract approximately 14,000 vehicles per day from Route 250, most of which would be diverted from Free Bridge. Graham pointed out that Grimm’s traffic model shows that the Pen Park route would also attract an additional 6,000 vehicles a day to Free Bridge, possibly making the situation there worse.

Former City Councilor Kevin Lynch pointed out that the diversion is constrained because the road called for in the Eastern Connector study would be restricted to two lanes. So far, Grimm’s traffic forecast model has not calculated the effect of a 4-lane Eastern Connector.

“If we said a four-lane facility, then we would see a lot more cars that would be taking that location. What the model shows is that there is more than enough vehicles making that movement to saturate whatever facility we build there,” Lynch said. In fact, City Traffic Engineer Jeannie Alexander said her numbers projected a 2-lane Eastern Connector would open with a failing level of service.

After some discussion, the Committee agreed to direct Grimm to perform additional analysis of traffic model based on four-lanes, not just for the Pen Park Route, but also for Polo Grounds Road and Proffit Road Relocated. These “sensitivity tests” will not be considered as full alternatives, but the modeling will provide more information.

Graham pointed again at the numbers which show Free Bridge’s traffic volume increasing, no matter which option is selected. “My question is, is that a function of the limitation of the connector or not?”

Grimm reminded Graham that the Eastern Connector should be viewed as one piece of a large complex puzzle. “There is no silver bullet that one road is going to solve all the problems over the next 20, 30, 40 50 years. There will be multiple improvements that will need to be made,” Grimm said. The total vehicle miles travelled in the whole jurisdictional area of the MPO are projected to increase by 52% between 2005 and 2025, according to the traffic model.

County Planning Commissioner Cal Morris points out why he supports a Pen Park route

Albemarle County Planning Commission Chairman and Key West resident Cal Morris said that of the three solutions taken to the public in the fall, the Pen Park solution was the most viable solution, because of the three, it would be connected to the most mature infrastructure in the area. Boyd said he agreed, but that the community has a history of spending a long time planning roads that don’t get built for decades. Morris said that’s why it was important for the steering committee to reach consensus on depicting three alternatives.

Boyd said he did not want to discourage further study, but that it was almost time for the Committee to report back to the City Council and Board of Supervisors with three alternatives.  Morris said he thought the Committee was almost ready to select three, and he was ready to recommend one as a top choice. City Planning Commissioner Mike Farruggio said he wanted more information on a four lane Pen Park route, despite concerns by Kevin Lynch that it would be politically impossible to build that road.  

Former City Councilor Kevin Lynch and City Planning Commissioner Mike Farruggio

“How in the world do you govern effectively if you do the math, and it says what needs to be done is a four-lane road to connect to Rio Road to [reduce] traffic and plan for the next 20 years, but we’re not going to do it because it’s unpalatable to some folks,” Farruggio asked. He pointed out the purpose of the Committee was to recommend the road based on the data at hand, and that a decision would be up to Council and the Board.

Graham also asked for modeling of the High Street bridge connection, which would intersect with an extended South Pantops Road that will eventually connect to Peter Jefferson Place. He said he knew that the City would not support this route, but that he needed to show the Board of Supervisors how effective the corridor might be. “It’s not an alternative, but when we set this up, we did call for a modeling [of a High Street bridge],” Graham said.  

The City letter also requested that transit options be studied. The Committee agreed with Grimm that the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Council would be better equipped to evaluate that possibility in connection with the Regional Transit Authority study.

The next meeting of the steering committee will be on April 25. The Committee will decide at that time whether to hold one more public information session before passing their recommendations on to the Council and Board.

Sean Tubbs

City Council: No Eastern Connector alignment through Charlottesville

The Charlottesville City Council wants the consultant overseeing the Eastern Connector alignment study to eliminate options that involve widening the Route 250 bypass or building new bridges heading onto the City of Charlottesville. Council agreed at their meeting on March 3rd to send a letter to Lewis Grimm of PBS&J outlining their views.

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The City and the County each contributed $250,000 to the study, which has been underway since December of 2006. The steering committee overseeing the study last met in February, and directed Grimm to revisit several options that had previously been tabled.

Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris brought the matter up under other business, and asked Neighborhood and Community Development Services Director Jim Tolbert to explain why the City is concerned about some of the alternatives that are being moved forward.

“If you remember, the Eastern Connector objectives where to find a way to move traffic from 29 North and Pantops back and forth without going through the center of Charlottesville,” Tolbert said. But Tolbert said PBS&J’s latest report recommends four alternatives that are not acceptable to the City. These include widening Free Bridge, widen the Route 250 bypass through the City, build a new bridge from the Pantops Shopping Center to High Street, or build a new bridge north of the Free Bridge.

“We were concerned that those completely ignored and took the focus off of what the real study was supposed to look at,” Tolbert said. He added that those options should be outside the scope of the Eastern Connector study, and sought an opinion from Council. “There may not be an alternative that accomplishes the goals of the Eastern Connector, and if so, we need to know that.”

Norris asked his fellow councilors if they thought the consultant should be told to examine other options, accept the recommendations as information, or declare the Eastern Connector study to be over.

“I think we need to state the fact that we don’t want another road coming through the City,” said Councilor Julian Taliaferro. “That would defeat the whole purpose of building connector roads.” Taliaferro asked how the consultant had strayed from the original scope of the study.

Tolbert said he thought PBS&J is confronting an issue of basic geography. “I think our traffic engineer would tell you that if you look at the numbers, the Eastern Connector could have a place as the most important road that could be built to relieve traffic in Charlottesville, but there’s nowhere to put it. The County has allowed development to occur in the last 25 years essentially in every feasible place that we’d put it,” Tolbert said.

“Our $250,000 is not speaking too loud,” Taliaferro said in response.

Councilor David Brown wanted more information on two of the alignments that did not come through the City – the Proffit Road or Polo Grounds Road route. “I’d like to have some fleshing out of that information,” he said. Brown said he supported sending the letter to the consultant to point out that a Charlottesville-based route would not be acceptable to Council. Councilor Satyendra Huja agreed.

Councilor Holly Edwards said she would like to see a renewed effort to fighting the traffic problem by getting people out of their cars.

Mayor Dave Norris said he did not want to waste any more resources trying to plan a road that could not be built, especially in an environment with few transportation dollars available for construction of a new road.

“The next major transportation investment in our region should not be another huge swath of very expensive asphalt that we’re not going to have the money to build anyway, and there’s no political will to build anyway,” Norris said.

At the last meeting of the Eastern Connector Steering Committee in February, former City Councilor Kevin Lynch said he thought the City would come around to the idea of another bridge over the Rivanna River into Charlottesville, but only if the County committed to aligning the Eastern Connector through Pen Park (Alignment 3).  City Council did not discuss the merits or challenges of a Pen Park solution last night.  Pen Park is in the City of Charlottesville. 

The next Eastern Connector Steering Committee meeting is expected to meet again by the first week of April, though no date has yet been set.

Sean Tubbs

Steering Committee directs consultant to study other options for Eastern Connector

Lewis Grimm of PBS&J

Since December 2006, an Eastern Connector alignment study has been underway in conjunction with the firm PBS&J to determine possible routes for a new road to connect the northern section of US 29 in Albemarle County with the growing Pantops area. Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville each contributed $250,000 to the study, and a steering committee made up of elected officials and citizens has been providing direction.

But, as time runs out on the contract, a specific alignment plan has still not been finalized. Yet, at their meeting on February 8, 2008, the Steering Committee directed lead engineer Lewis Grimm of PBS&J to revisit other options that had previously been tabled, as well as to search for potential new alignments to connect Route 20 with Rio Road that don’t affect Pen Park.  A  bridge connecting the Pantops Shopping center area to the City near East High Street and Meade Avenue and the alignment of the Eastern Connector through Pen Park are both getting further study.

In November, members of the public overwhelmingly rejected three proposed alternatives when they were presented at two informational meetings. Two of these potential routes made improvements to existing roads, Proffit Road (Alt 1) and Polo Grounds Road (Alt 2), in order to satisfy the parameters of the study. The third ran the Eastern Connector straight through Pen Park (Alt 3). According to the data presented at those two November meetings, none of these three options would save motorists much time.

So when the steering committee met again in December of last year, they directed PBS&J’s Lewis Grimm to revisit the traffic model upon which those numbers were based. Staff was directed to further analyze traffic patterns to see if the three alternatives for the Eastern connector would alleviate traffic conditions at Free Bridge during times of peak usage.

At their next meeting in February, the steering committee heard updates from Grimm and County staff, but County Transportation Planner Juandiego Wade said he is still working with PBS&J to further study the traffic model results. In the meantime, he suggested that the committee work to refine all possible alternatives, because of the need to produce a report sometime this year.

The traffic model assumes the Eastern Connector will be a two-lane collector road, parts of which would be limited access. Grimm says there is a precedent for a road on the secondary system to be limited access, which means no new driveways. “A lot of it gets down to being a public policy and land use control decision,” Grimm said.

City Planning Commissioner Mike Farruggio said it would be crucial for both localities to set that policy in stone as soon as possible to prevent future decision-makers from allowing driveway cuts on an expensive road. “We want to make it efficient for the next fifty years, and not the next fifteen,” Farrugio said.

Shortly into the meeting, Wade asked the Committee if other alternatives that were previously dismissed should be revisited.

“We know that the public didn’t particularly like [the Pen Park Route (alternative 3)],” he said, pointing out the regulatory hurdles that will have to be overcome to put the road through the park.

Grimm suggested several alternatives could have merit, but stressed to the committee that these were still concepts to be sketched out.

First, reconfigure the Route 20 to Rio Road (Alternative 3) option to show how it might travel on the northern or southern edges of the park. He also showed the committee some preliminary numbers on how adding another bridge over the Rivanna River would affect traffic volume. But he also suggested the possibility of having a four-lane connector, predicting a two-lane road would quickly become congested with high volume.
Grimm spent several minutes showing the cumulative effect of this possibility in addressing congestion on the road network as a whole.  He said Free Bridge would continue to have a failing level of service even with the Pen Park route, because it is a “critical link” for many people’s travel paths. Farrugio said the bridge was “super-congested during the peak period” and will continue to be so.

Former City Councilor Kevin Lynch (left) and Supervisor Ken Boyd (right)

Steering Committee member and City Resident John Pfaltz said it would be very hard politically to put four lanes through Pen Park. Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Chairman Ken Boyd (Rivanna) pointed out that the community has not accepted the Eastern Connector even as a two-lane road yet.

Former City Councilor Kevin Lynch, who continues to sit on the committee, disagreed with Grimm and said a two-lane road could handle the volume with no problem if it were designed right.

Wade said he thought the Pen Park route was the wrong way to address traffic on Route 250, given that the federal government will have to approve the placement of a highway through a park it helped fund. He threw out the idea of putting money for the road into transit.

“What we really need is that once [westbound motorists on Route 250] get over that bridge is to have more roadway, and that’s going to be next to impossible, so if we know that that traffic is coming from here, trying to get to downtown… maybe the answer is aggressive park and ride or something, I don’t know.”
Mike Farruggio later would suggest that this idea be worked into an alternative to be studied.

That prompted Grimm to show more data showing how different permutations add to relief in other parts of the network, and that one aspect would only contribute to the eventual solution.

“I think the concept of a linkage of Rio Road and Route 20 is a viable concept. The question is, are there other alternative alignments besides this generic one that could have similar results in terms of improving the transportation system’s operation, but without having those significant impacts on the park?” asked Grimm. Grimm pointed out that the best time for a community to plan other network changes is at a time when one major project such as the Eastern Connector.

Lynch said it was safe to say that Alternatives 1 or 2 are not prudent alternatives because they do not address the traffic issue.

Farruggio wanted to know what concepts were still on the table. “Are we still talking about trying to widen 250?  Are we still talking about trying to bring a bridge?” he asked.

Mark Graham, the County’s Director of Community Development, said Route 250 would still be congested as a result of the Pen Park route. “And for me, that was still a primary part of the purpose of this whole study,” he said.  Graham said the Pen Park route could be considered as the foundation for a greater solution, which could involve another bridge or not. “Maybe we look at more of a longer term approach to this,” he said.

Lynch said that he felt he could outline the City’s position, even though he is no longer a Councilor.   
“Once you have some commitment by the County to build some roads outside of the City, [the Eastern Connector,]  the Southern Parkway, the Fontaine/Sunset Connector, then I think you’ll see some willingness to go back and say ‘Okay, what about that bridge from Meade Avenue and High Street to Pantops?’”

But Wade said an effort should be made to build the best possible road. “I don’t think we should just build a road because it’s our turn if it doesn’t address the problem,” he said.

Boyd pointed out that the County has been making efforts to build its share of the regional road network, but some of the most effective choices involve building connections to the city, such as bridge south of Free Bridge.

“I still believe that’s a critical piece of alleviating the pressure on Route 250. And Kevin, we are building roads. We’ve got proffer for a road from Peter Jefferson Place all the way  down to Pantops Shopping Center. We’ve also made some preliminary expansions with Pantops Shopping Center people, I think they’re probably at least willing to talk to us about some renovation there, and how they’d like to bring it right up to the river...” He said the study had to at least model the possibility so that its effect on traffic congestion would be known.   

Lynch said he would be willing to consider the bridge, if the County commits to Alternative 3, which he said could get federal approval if the argument was framed properly.

“I do not see that as a road through the park, the park already has a road through it, with a three-lane facility. I see that as a bridge over the golf course which is at the end of the road. It’s basically a bridge project, it’s not a road project,” Lynch said. When Farruggio disagreed with Lynch’s assessment that the access road is a real road, the former City Councilor responded: “But that’s how you get projects done, you describe them on the terms that you want them to be described and not by the terms that your opponents
want them to be described.”

Towards the end of the meeting, Wade asked for specific directions to send to Grimm. Boyd said he wanted more analysis of the effects of a southern bridge that would extend the County’s new parallel road into the City.  “Whether or not we carry it forward… I think it’s valuable information.”

Farruggio said the Committee had a responsibility to look at it, and also offered the suggestion of looking at efforts to stop cars from coming into the City all together, by providing a parking garage with a transit center. Albemarle County Planning Commissioner Cal Morris (Rivanna) said he wanted more information on the southern bridge, as well as more information on boosting capacity on Route 250 on Free Bridge and beyond. Grimm pointed out that it was important to take political realities into effect before evaluating too many of these options in too much detail.

Lynch also pointed out that neither the state or federal government was likely to give the region hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on transportation projects that only address local issues.

Grimm was also tasked to see if there are any potential alignments to connect Route 20 with Rio Road that do not take the Pen Park route. Alternative 3 will also be reconfigured to see what would happen if improvements were made to Route 250 as well as a southern bridge.

Grimm said he would follow up via e-mail with the various descriptions that he thought he heard from the steering committee members.

A transit-oriented option will also be formulated, but Grimm said: “If you really expect to see a significant reduction in the number of people who drive themselves to work or shop or whatever in downtown Charlottesville, free parking has to totally disappear, and the price of parking you provide has to go up significantly.”

Sean Tubbs

Data said to support Pen Park alignment for Eastern Connector

Last month, the Eastern Connector Steering Committee asked for more justification for the road project that is proposed to connect Route 29 N to the Pantops area.  At their monthly meeting on January 23, 2008, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) got their first look at two of the answers--Our traffic problems have local origins and one specific Eastern Connector proposal is projected to significantly outperform all the others.  Consultant Lewis Grimm made his case to the MPO that the data shows an alignment of the Eastern Connector in the Pen Park area would have the greatest impact on reducing peak hour traffic volumes on Route 250 at Free Bridge.

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The City and County are jointly funding an alignment study to determine the Eastern Connector’s preferred location.  From more than a dozen alignment options, the Steering Committee has whittled it down to three different two-lane alternatives.  In late 2007, the public and policymakers expressed skepticism about the benefits any of the alternatives would provide to travel time.  The average improvement was projected to be from 24 seconds to two minutes for a car traveling from Hollymead to Pantops on the Eastern Connector. 

First, Grimm’s firm decided to revisit data collected in 1999 when VDOT conducted an in-depth license plate survey that examined the origin and destination of vehicles at 26 different survey locations in and around Charlottesville.

Grimm reported that the 1999 study showed that traffic was very dispersed in the area.  This runs counter, he said, to the public perception that lots of traffic is trying to get from Route 29 N to I-64 East towards Richmond.  “That’s one of the key findings…other than a few locations it is a fairly dispersed pattern,” said Grimm.  The license plate survey shows that 5% of all vehicle trips are really though trips, those vehicles starting outside the area and finishing outside the area.  Grimm told Charlottesville Tomorrow that this data was reviewed to address the public perception that it was an Eastern Bypass that was needed, and not a new local connector road.

Reflecting on the license plate survey, Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) described the traffic congestion as a local problem, “Look around the room, the problem is us. It’s not them.  It’s not someone from Greene County.”  Grimm emphasized that the Eastern Connector is a road intended to solve a local problem and not regional traffic flows.

The second major piece of feedback from the public was concern that the data did not show what would happen to traffic congestion during rush hour periods.  So a team of transportation engineers in PBS&J’s Atlanta office was called upon to examine the local traffic model and calculate what impact each Eastern Connector alignment would have during peak traffic volumes.  Grimm said he wanted to put his firm’s experience in other urban areas to use on the Charlottesville data.  “We decided to look through our library and find adjustment factors that would give us a reasonable estimate of the peak hour movements.”

Based upon this work, Grimm reported to the MPO that, of the three alignment alternatives, the Pen Park option would remove the most traffic, 13.6% of the volume projected to be at Free Bridge on Route 250 in the year 2025.  Travel time savings during rush hour have not yet been calculated.  Without the new road, traffic volumes there are projected to grow from 48,210 vehicles per day in the year 2005 to 68,340 vehicles per day in the year 2025, or a 41.8% increase.

The next public meeting of the Eastern Connector Steering Committee is scheduled for February 8, 2008 where they are expected to receive a similar presentation.

Brian Wheeler

MPO Policy Board, December 19, 2007

On December 19, 2007, the MPO Policy Board held its final meeting of the year, with discussions on the Eastern Connector, three amendments to the Transportation Improvement Program, and a farewell to City Councilor Kevin Lynch, who is leaving office. The MPO Policy Board is chaired by Albemarle County Supervisor David Slutzky (Rio).

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WIDENING PROJECT ON US 29 APPROVED

The MPO approved an amendment to the Transportation Improvement Program to begin the process of widening U.S. 29 between Polo Grounds Road and Airport Road. The MPO voted to approve the use of over $2 million in federal funds to begin preliminary engineering on the project.

During the public comment period, CHART member and City transportation activist John Pfaltz said he would rather see the money go towards the creation of a parallel road network. MPO members pointed out that would not be permitted because the federal funds are for primary roads, and any new roads such as Berkmar Drive Extended would be considered secondary funds. Pfaltz said he knew that, but thought the MPO should send a message to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).

Slutzky said he was confident Berkmar could be paid for in part by developer proffers, so he saw no need to deny the widening of US 29. Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) said the narrowing of 29 north of Polo Grounds Road created a safety hazard, and that completing the widening of 29 to Airport Road was one of the County’s priorities for primary road funding.

JAUNT OFFICIAL CONCERNED ABOUT FINANCIAL IMPACT OF FARE-FREE

Donna Shaunesey of JAUNT presented an update on the para-transit service, which provides ride services for human service agencies and the general public in the five counties around Charlottesville. Shaunesey passed out a hand-out which showed how much revenue would have to be made up if the Charlottesville Transit Service goes fare-free.

“By law, if CTS is fare-free, our services in the urban area also have to be fare-free,” Shaunesey said. That would likely mean more riders, and she estimated a $314,420 increase in local funding to make up the difference.  Shaunesey says when the transit system in Chapel Hill, North Carolina did away with fares, the para-transit service saw ridership shoot up 21 percent the next year.

However, JAUNT would continue to be able to charge riders for services who do not live in jurisdictions where there is free transit service available. JAUNT is not currently a party to the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) under development by Charlottesville and Albemarle.  However, the RTA approach endorsed by the MPO at their November meeting ensures the door is open to the agency being invited to join in the future.

UVA UPDATE

UVa Land Use Architect Julia Monteith said a system that will allow passengers of the University Transit System to track buses via GPS will go online in January. The system is being put into place by the New Zealand company Connectionz, which earlier this month reported a financial loss due to delays in implementing a similar system in Charlottesville.

Monteith also reported that two new UVa parking garages will open in late winter. The “Arts Grounds garage” next to the School of Architecture and the new North Garage on West Main Street are both under construction with an estimated completion date of late February or early March 2008. That will mean a new traffic signal at Crispell Avenue and the 9th-10th Connector (aka Roosevelt Brown Connector). Monteith said the grade of the area prevented the construction of a roundabout at that intersection. A complex intersection of 11th Street, Lee Street and Crispell behind the Medical Center is also being studied for improvements, but there is no final plan.

EASTERN CONNECTOR

During a discussion of the MPO’s FY 2008 work program, several members sought more information on the Eastern Connector, and requested a formal briefing from the County staff members who are overseeing the corridor location study. Members of the public who attended a pair of recent information sessions on the proposed road overwhelmingly questioned the need for the road. That prompted MPO members to talk about the current state of the area’s transportation models. Supervisor Dennis Rooker attended the second meeting on November 29, and suggested that the consultant did not correct misconceptions that were being claimed by some attendees. The MPO is responsible for the area’s official transportation forecast, upon which the consultants’ numbers were based.

TIP AMENDMENTS

In addition to the widening of US 29, the MPO adopted two other amendments to the TIP. Albemarle County is now eligible for Highway Safety Improvement Project funding from the Federal Highway Safety Administration. With the TIP amendment, those funds can now be used for safety projects on rural roads.

The other amendment will allow the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center being constructed in Darden Towe Park to receive federal funding for the project, which includes interpretative trails, a ferry service and new parking.

VDOT’s John Giometti reported that the current Commissioner of VDOT is interested in streamlining the TIP process. More information will be made available at a future MPO meeting.

PRAISE FOR KEVIN LYNCH

Supervisor Dennis Rooker made a motion to pass a resolution thanking City Councilor Kevin Lynch for his service on the Council and the MPO board.  Other members asked Lynch if he would consider joining the CHART committee. He said he would keep it in mind, but wants to take a couple of months off.

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST

• 0:47 Meeting called to order
• 1:09 Matters from the public
  
• 1:12 John Pfaltz speaks out against spending money on widening US 29, MPO discussion
• 6:47 – Adoption of previous meetings’ minutes
• 8:09 – Transit Update  - JAUNT and UTS
• 8:08 – Donna Shaunesey of JAUNT
• 16:09 – Julia Monteith of the University gives UTS update
• 23:07 – Discussion of potential pedestrian bridges over railroad tracks by the Corner
• 28:22 – Councilor Lynch asks if future UVa and City parking garages should provide for electric vehicles
• 29:42 – Discussion of MPO’s Draft FY 2008 Work Program Status
• 31:21 – Discussion of Eastern Connector study
• 51:32 – Update from VDOT’s John Giometti on the UnJAM 2025 Year of Expenditure Dollars
• 1:13:09 – Public hearing on TIP amendments
• 1:16:15 – Public comment from Peter Kleeman
• 1:18:54 – Public comment from Paul Grady
• 1:30:33 – Discussion of Regional Transportation Authority changes
• 1:56:47 – Other business – discussion of a new CHART appointee
• 1:59:51 – Other matters from the public

Sean Tubbs

Public sends Eastern Connector study back to the drawing board

The dots on this easel-pad represent the preferences of attendees. The other three options received one or two dots each

Members of the public who attended a second information session on three proposed routes for the Eastern Connector overwhelmingly told the consultant to return to the drawing board to come up with other alternatives for the region’s problems with traffic congestion. The overwhelming majority of attendees who voted for an option selected the no-build alternative, which includes widening Route 250 to six lanes through the Pantops area.

Podcast produced by Charlottesville Tomorrow * Player by Odeo

Listen using player above or download the podcast:  Download 20071129-EC-Public.MP3

Over seventy-five people attended the event, which featured a presentation from Lewis Grimm of PBS&J as well as a series of break-out sessions designed to give feedback on the three routes. During his presentation, Grimm wanted to make sure the audience knew that the concepts on display are preliminary.

“We’re not talking about getting ready to go to build anything next Tuesday,” he told the crowd. “We’re still in the mode of looking for as much input as we can possibly obtain, because it’s you the community that really needs to support whatever recommendations are done.”

The scope and purpose of the study, which uses the traffic forecast model prepared by the Metropolitan Planning Organization in its UnJAM 2025 plan, is to develop a series of alternatives for a potential  new connection east of Route 20 and US 29 somewhere between Rio Road and Proffit Road.  Grimm told the audience that the study assumes that the population of the area is going to grow substantially in the next few decades.

“Between the year 2000 and the 2030, the projections are for about a 40 percent increase just in population,  and that’s going to generate a significant increase in [traffic] demand  in this particular region,” Grimm said.

Alternative zero assumes that other projects listed in the UnJAM 2025 get built, including the Meadowcreek Parkway, and Hillsdale Drive Extended. UnJAM also assumes improvements will be made at the intersection of U.S. 29 and the Route 250 Bypass.

Lewis Grimm addresses the crowd

But Grimm said there are no projects in the UnJAM plan to address how to get from the Pantops area to US 29.  As a result, roads in the area are expected to have failing levels of service during peak travel times.  Grimm added that the kind of road being proposed as an Eastern Connector is a two-lane collector road.

“Not major roadways, not regional facilities, but two-lane roadways to build a better system of streets and highways in the Charlottesville area, not big major roads,” Grimm said. He added that any road would also feature bike paths and sidewalks.

PUBLIC OPPOSITION

After hearing Grimm detail the three alternatives, members of the public were vocal in their opposition. 

Charts provided by PBS&J listing the relative merits and costs of each alternative

Many were concerned that none of the three alternatives would make a significant difference in reducing travel time, despite the large price tag. This analysis was based on a hypothetical trip from Hollymead to Pantop. Under the no-build, that would take 37.8 minutes in 2025, compared with 37.4 minutes for Alternative #1 (Proffit Road relocated), 36.8 minutes for Alternative #2 (Polo Grounds Road Connector), and 35.9 minutes for Alternative #3 (Rio Road to Route 20 via Pen Park).

Applause broke out in the auditorium after Grimm mentioned that a participant of the first information session had suggested that the parameters of the study be widened to as far north as Ruckersville and as far east as Shadwell.

“I’d be more than happy to do that, but it’s not in my current scope of work or budget,” Grimm said.
Clara Belle Wheeler, who owns a large property along Route 20 within the study area, suggested that the current scope is not wide enough.

“You talk about making significant improvements, and yet by your own study you’re going to reduce the traffic time by only two minutes [using the Pen Park route,]” Wheeler said. “I don’t think that’s cost-effective.”  Wheeler also generated applause when she demanded that Pen Park not be turned into a road.  Grimm told her to make sure that she and other opponents submit written comments to ensure their feedback is taken into consideration.

Another woman asked about the possibility of a bypass for U.S. 29 around Charlottesville. She said that would accomplish many of the same goals as the location study.  Grimm said that a bypass alternative has been selected, right of way had been purchased, but he was not hired to study such a road.  He later mentioned that such a project could approach a billion dollars, if a route from I-64 to Ruckersville were undertaken.

“Whether  or not that project is going to advance is not up to me, but if there’s enough support from the community for a project of that nature, all of your local elected officials, all of your state elected officials, clearly need to hear that,” he said.

Another man stood up and asked if the cost estimates for the projects included court costs, hinting at a possible law suit if the Pen Park route ends up as the selected alternative. Another person asked if increased public transportation was considered as an option for relieving congestion.  Grimm said that the federal government will not allow the MPO to model that possibility in its traffic demand forecasts.

“The [Charlottesville] urban area is kind of right at that marginal size of whether or not the federal government will support a mode choice model,” Grimm said. He also pointed out that a $50 million capital investment would also require ongoing funding to maintain and operate the expanded facilities. “If the local government wants to do it, it has been done in other parts of the country, and it can be done here.”

Sarah Hendley has organized a committee to preserve Pen Park, and says that she has collected well over 1,600 signatures from people who do not want the park to be used for a road. 

“I am struck by the emphasis placed on building the road through Pen Park in spite of federal laws and restrictions on building a road through a park… when there are feasible and prudent alternatives,” Hendley said.   “Why spend millions of dollars to ruin our best park and save two minutes of driving time?”

Attendees were asked to add comments to maps of the three options during the workshop portion of the event

After the presentation, members of the audience were instructed to sit at one of several tables to participate in workshops to critique the alternatives. When they were finished, facilitators reported back their findings to the main group. County Senior Planner Judy Wiegand reported that the group she oversaw wanted to see a connection between northern U.S. 29 and Interstate 64, and that none of the proposed alternatives should go forward.  The next group concluded that none of the three solved a local traffic problem, and suggested an origin and destination study be conducted.  The other groups echoed the same result – that none of the alternatives helped solve any traffic problems.

Grimm acknowledged that he knew that any of the alternatives as proposed would not solve all of the region’s traffic woes.

“This is an issue where we’re looking to help define a better system for the Charlottesville area,” he said. Responding to audience complaints that the projections of spending $50 million to reduce traffic time by 2 minutes, Grimm said that was a policy decision that would ultimately be left to local leaders.  He said more study would be needed if the public wanted more details of who uses our area’s roads.

“The questions we’ve raised tonight have really pointed out the very large-scale regional issues that are involved,” Grimm said.

County transportation planner Juandiego Wade said about sixty people attended the first information session. Grimm said that many people at that meeting wanted to know why the study area was so limited, and that new alternatives may very well be drawn up from that meeting.

Charlottesville City Councilor Dave Norris sits on the MPO Policy Board, but is not a member of the Eastern Connector Steering Committee.  He suggested a new approach may need to be taken.

“Part of the problem is that we haven’t looked at this whole issue regionally to the extent that is really necessary, and we’ve sort of been approaching transportation on a somewhat piecemeal basis, “ Norris said.  “The broader conversation needs to be about the system as a whole.”

The Eastern Connector Location Study Steering Committee will consider public input at their next meeting on December 14.

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 00:56 - Lewis Grimm of PBS&J provides an overview of the project
• 10:10 -  Grimm introduces the alternatives
• 23:53 - Grimm answers a question about computer modeling that went into the project
• 27:04 - Comments from Clara Belle Wheeler, who owns property in the study area
• 31:56 - Grimm answers a question about the possibility of a bypass around Charlottesville
• 34:46 - A man asks about more details about the possibility of route improvements on U.S. 250 through Pantops
• 36:10 - Another man questions Grimm's figure of two minutes of time savings time using #Alternative 3
• 38:02 - Pen Park activist Sarah Hendley addresses the crowd
• 40:34 - The breakout groups report back their thoughts on the three alternatives
  

Sean Tubbs

Public will see three options for Eastern Connector

The committee overseeing the Eastern Connector Corridor Study has eliminated another possible alternative for the proposed road, which has been proposed to relieve traffic congestion on Route 29 North and on Route 250 near Pantops by providing an alternate connection between these two areas.  The committee unanimously voted to remove from consideration a design alternative that would have accomplished the study's objectives by building a new bridge over the Rivanna River into Charlottesville, and by making intersection improvements along 250.

The Committee also heard cost estimates for the first time:

• Alternative #1: Proffit Road Relocated  - $44.5 million
• Alternative #2A: Polo Grounds Road Connector (with RR overpass) - $57.4 million
• Alternative #2B: Polo Grounds Road Connector (with RR underpass) - $84.8 million
• Alternative #13: Rio Road to Route 20 via Pen Park - $42 million
• Alternative #13A: Rio Road to Route 20 (north side of park) - $54.1 million
• Alternative #13B: Rio Road to Route 20 (south side of park) - $33.6 million

Much of the meeting was spent discussing what will be presented to the community at two upcoming public input meetings. The first will be held at Baker-Butler Elementary on November 28 beginning at 7:00 PM, and the second will be held in the second floor lobby in the Albemarle County Office Building on November 29.

Ken Boyd, Chairman of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, said a “key issue” was to show the public why the road would be needed. Lewis Grimm, project manager for consulting firm PBS&J, said the information that would be presented to the public would offer traffic and population projections to make the case for the road.

“There's been significant observed growth in the past five years, there's been substantial growth in population and employment,” Grimm said. “Associated with that is projected increases in traffic, particularly across the river. All things considered there seems to be a need to continue with this work.”

But Boyd said the main purpose of the Eastern Connector study is to find the road that will have the most effect in terms of relieving traffic on Route 250.

Charlottesville City Planning Commissioner Mike Faruggio joined the committee for the first time at this meeting. He replaced Jon Fink, who stepped down from the Commission earlier this fall.

City Councilor Kevin Lynch expressed the concern that of the three alternatives being shown for Alternative 13, the Pen Park route, none showed the alignment that went along an existing service road. The consultant has developed three other alignments with detailed engineering drawings. One of these runs slightly to the east of the route Lynch supported at the October steering committee meeting, and the other two traverse the northern and southern edges of the park.

“I don't think any of those are workable,” Lynch said, and asked the consultant to consider depicting only the conceptual drawing at the public information, and only depicting the central alignment through the park. If the road goes through the park, the federal government will have to be convinced that the benefit to the area's transportation network outweighs the impact to environmental and cultural resources.

The committee debated the issue for a few minutes. John Pfaltz, who serves on the panel as a citizen representative of the City, said he thought the public should see the most viable of all the Pen Park options. Lewis Grimm of PBS&J said he thought they could demonstrate that a Pen Park solution could be proven as the most effective with respect to taking traffic off of 250, but that federal approval would be hard to come by.

Two options will be considered for the Polo Grounds road option. In both, the road will cross the railroad, but the question is whether the grade separation will be via an underpass or an overpass.  Going underneath the railroad would be significantly more expensive, with a cost estimate of over $84 million for the whole alternative. Going over the tracks would cost over $57 million alternative.

“It's one of those toss-ups of where you want to spend the money,” said Grimm. He pointed out that the full costs would not be known until detailed engineering work could be done.

The real discussion of the day came in respect to the alternative that was eliminated from consideration. At the October meeting, Alternative 3 was redeveloped to incorporate both improvements to Route 250 as well as a second bridge south of the Rivanna River to divert traffic into the City. Several committee members expressed the concern that this route would not serve as an eastern connector, though it technically meets the scope of the Eastern Connector Location Study.

Ken Boyd of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors said he wanted to see how much traffic that option would take off of Route 250, but agreed that it may not be a viable option to move forward as part of the Eastern Connector study.

John Pfaltz made a motion to strike Alternative 3 from consideration, because he thought it presented unacceptable changes. He said he did not think it was feasible to remove left-hand turns lanes from eastbound traffic on Route 250 onto River Road, given that the area had several industrial sites that trucks would need access to.

Mark Graham, Albemarle County's Director of Community Development, said that he was concerned that the committee was putting too much stock on the Pen Park route.

“When I look at the traffic numbers, Proffit Road doesn't really do anything for you, Polo Grounds Roads doesn't do anything for you. Pen Park will do something for you, but you have a major environmental hurdle,” said Graham.

The committee reached consensus that a southern bridge may be a viable way to relieve rush hour congestion on Free Bridge, but that was not the point of the Eastern Connector. But, Jack Kelsey, Albemarle’s Transportation Engineer, made the motion that Alternative 3 be removed, but that the possibility of a future southern bridge be recommended for consideration at a later date, as part of a separate study. The committee took a vote, and all approved of the motion.

The Pantops Master Plan, which has not yet been adopted by Albemarle County, depicts two possible future transportation corridors. One would align with the Pen Park route, and the other would align with the southern bridge option. The Pantops Master Plan also anticipates that Route 250 through Pantops will eventually be expanded to six-lanes. The request for proposals that set the Eastern Connector study in motion contains this language:

“The successful project will result in the design of several alternative road alignments that will provide a connection between US 250 east of Route 20 and US 29 between Rio Road and Proffit Road.”

Thirteen options have now been whittled down to three, but until the City Council and Board of Supervisors approve of a preferred alternative, any route can be reconsidered.

The road would be a two-lane “collector type route” with pedestrian and biking trails. Grimm said it would have a variable design speed, based on the section of the route.

Sean Tubbs

Board reaffirms commitment to transportation funding

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution stating their commitment to continue funding regional transportation initiatives. Such a document was requested by the Charlottesville City Council in early October when it voted to give VDOT a temporary construction easement to build the Meadowcreek Parkway.

Supervisor David Slutzky (Rio) put the resolution together, and added examples of how the County has increased funding over the last few years. “It's a gesture of good-faith back to the City in our renewed era of collaboration,” he said.

Download the approved resolution

The County has:

• Increased funding for JAUNT from $418,481 in FY03 to $704,382 appropriated for FY08
• Contributed $6,500 in funds to Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation
• Contributed $50,000 to a Regional Transit Authority Study
• Contributed $20,000 to a Charlottesville Transit Service Study
• Collected over $2,000,000 in proffers to specifically pay for transit projects
• Funded $3,486,528 on sidewalks, walking trails and biking projects
• Contributed $250,000 for Eastern Connector alignment study

The resolution also describes the County's efforts to date with respect to the proposed Sunset/Fontaine Connector. According to the resolution, the County accepted a $1.55 million proffer from the Biscuit Run development  to help pay for that project, and will also include the project on the County's priority list for secondary road improvements.

Sean Tubbs

Pen Park route for Eastern Connector back on the table

David Benish shows the Pantops Master Plan to attendees of the meeting

11/8/07 Update: Since this article was posted, the consultant consolidated the number of choices into four. Further information is available in this document (.PDF).

When the panel of officials in charge of selecting a corridor for the Eastern Connector last met in August, they did not see an option that included routing the road through Pen Park. But, when the steering committee met on October 5, 2007, that alternative was put back on the table as one of five choices the public will see at a public forum later this year.

In all, the committee waded through 13 alternatives at the meeting. The committee also spent time reestablishing the need for an Eastern Connector. Albemarle County's Chief Planner, David Benish, described how the Pantops Master Plan provides for an Eastern Connector. Additionally, a public information meeting on the project has been pushed back to late November/early December to give the engineering team more time to refine the selected alternatives.

ORIGINS IN THE PANTOPS MASTER PLAN

Benish said the Board of Supervisors is currently reviewing the Pantops Master Plan, after receiving a recommendation for approval by the Planning Commission. “It is working its ways towards ultimate approval, we hope before the end of the year,” he said. The transportation plan has two locations where there could be an Eastern Connector, according to Benish.

The transportation map of the Pantops Master Plan uses two blue arrows to indicate where future road connections may be made

“What we essentially identified is the use of the Route 250 Corridor and or a parallel road system to the north, and utilization of the Route 20 corridor,” he said. But, the Pantops Master Plan does show a potential road corridor passing to the north of Darden Towe Park.

Another recommendation in the plan shows a potential bridge to the City at High Street from the Pantops Shopping Center. There's also an extension of Olympia Road to connect with Route 20. Benish said that last project would complete a parallel road network behind Route 250 through the Pantops area. “That parallel road system may be creating a system that would function like an Eastern Connector,” he suggested.

The Pantops Master Plan sets a maximum widening of Route 250 to six lanes on the County side, in part to retain some semblance of safety for pedestrians. The map shows a future upgrade on Route 20 to four lanes between 250 and the entrance to Darden-Towe Park. “Past that intersection the plan recommends that the Route 20 corridor retain a rural character and not be upgraded,” Benish said.

PROVING THE NEED FOR THE EASTERN CONNECTOR

Albemarle County Supervisor Ken Boyd (Rivanna) told the committee  that many of his constituents are concerned about the road.

“The single most frequent question I get is why are you doing this, and what will it do for us?” Boyd said it is important for the committee to describe the “hardcore reasons” why County staff feel the Eastern Connector is necessary.

Source: PBS&J

Lewis Grimm of the engineering firm PBS&J said the Eastern Connector is a road identified by the Metropolitan Planning Organization in its United Jefferson Area Mobility Plan (UnJam 2025). He pointed to data that shows traffic on Free Bridge on Route 250 increased from 30 thousand trips per day to 52 thousand trips per day in 2006. Grimm said traffic volumes are expected to grow 38.9 percent between 2000 and 2030, based on data from the U.S. Census and Albemarle County, as well as several studies conducted by the County and the MPO. 

Supervisor Boyd questioned whether those numbers were accurate. City resident John Pfaltz sits on the steering committee in his capacity as a member of the MPO's CHART committee, which is currently conducting a new long-range traffic study.

“250 East Pantops stands out as it was predicted to be with an increase of 200 percent,” Pfaltz said. “It has already gone up 100 percent in one third of the time.”

City Councilor Kevin Lynch said that the City's purpose and need is to relieve congestion on Route 250, and pointed to multiple traffic studies that show gridlock in the coming years if nothing is done.

“If we don't have another crossing,” Lynch said “The 250 Bypass, which is our most efficiently working piece of infrastructure right now shuts down, and we can't let that happen.”

But Ken Boyd said that it was important to select the most efficient project. “If we build an Eastern Connector and it takes just three percent of the traffic off of [Route 250]  that and you still have the gridlock, we haven't done anything and spent a lot of money for nothing.” He said he wanted to select an alignment that maximizes traffic reduction.

John Pfaltz said the time for proving the need for the Eastern Connector was over. “There's a huge amount of traffic coming from the northern part of the county heading east, or vice versa,” he said. But Boyd, a resident of Key West, called the Proffit-Road to Route 20 corridor a “de-facto” Eastern Connector, and said current traffic numbers did not indicate a large need. But Pfaltz reminded Boyd that Proffit has a one-lane bridge and several dangerous curves. Boyd agreed, but suggested cheaper alternatives may be all the region can afford.

Councilor Lynch suggested that only a project in the $40 to $50 million range would be funded. He also pointed out that City approval of the Meadowcreek Parkway is predicated on the eventual construction of the Eastern Connector and a regional network of roads in the County.

Boyd said his questioning of the traffic numbers was to ensure the best road would be built, and not to delay or stop the project.

“There's no intent that I'm aware of on our Board to not be fully committed to building an Eastern Connector road,” he said.

COMMITTEE DISCUSSES THE ALTERNATIVES

Lewis Grimm said that the alternatives would be governed by a set of conditions.

“We're assuming we're looking at two-lane roadways, we're looking at one travel lane in each direction,” he said. “All these wo