Charlottesville Tomorrow Blog

Council won’t act on Meadowcreek Parkway until June

The first week of June is shaping up to be an important one for the fate of the Meadowcreek Parkway. Council approval is required on projects at either end of the City’s portion of the proposed road.

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Councilor Satyendra Huja

First, Council will hold the second reading of an ordinance to grant the Virginia Department of Transportation permanent and temporary easements on and through 9 acres of land near Charlottesville High School. The School Board granted its permission on May 1, and Council held its first reading and public hearing on May 5. The second reading is postponed until June 2 because Councilor Satyendra Huja will not be present at Council’s meeting on May 19.

Second, Council will hold a work session on the design of the Meadowcreek Parkway Interchange on June 4. Huja requested a work session after Council declined to follow the recommendation of the Steering Committee that an oval roundabout be used at the junction of the Parkway and the Route 250 bypass. Councilors felt the alternatives presented to them at a meeting on April 21 were too large.

The firm overseeing the design of the interchange, RK&K, cannot move forward until Council selects a preferred alternative. Owen Peery, Project Manager for RK&K, told Charlottesville Tomorrow that his team is preparing to address Council's concerns.

"We are currently preparing for the June meeting by revisiting these issues and how they have influenced our designs to date," Peery said.

Council vote on school land easements scheduled for June 2

On May 1, the City School Board voted 4-1 on a resolution to grant the easements, but City Attorney Craig Brown said approval came with four conditions and six expectations. The conditions are that no portion of the Meadowcreek Parkway can open until the whole roadway is complete, a safe crossing will be created for pedestrians and cyclists at the Parkway’s intersection with Melbourne Road, that the road be hidden from Charlottesville High School playing fields by landscaping, and that the speed limit on the Parkway will be 25 miles per hour as it approaches Melbourne Road.

Brown said City staff proposed an additional condition to be added to say that the permanent easements will continue to be deeded to the City of Charlottesville. That would give the City jurisdiction over the control and maintenance of the intersection, and would have final say on how the intersection will be designed and operated. All five conditions are incorporated into Council’s resolution.

Mayor Dave Norris asked Brown for more details on the School Board’s expectations, and asked for an opinion on whether or not they should become conditions. Brown listed the expectations:

• City, County and VDOT will work to secure funding for additional pedestrian/cyclist bridges over the Parkway to facilitate access to linear park
• City will replace athletic fields taken by the easement
• Commercial truck traffic will not be permitted on the Parkway
• Public transportation/carpooling will be encouraged to lower number of vehicles on Parkway
• Replacement parkland in County being acquired by City and land for linear park will be placed in conservation easement
• School Board will be able to provide input into design, location and funding for pedestrian connections

Mayor Norris, Councilor Huja, and Councilor Julian Taliaferro all said they wanted these expectations to be included in the City Council resolution.  If Council approves, the City will grant permanent easements on approximately 1.8 acres in the County for the road, half an acre for phone and power lines, as well as another 2.5 acres for drainage, stormwater management and slopes. VDOT will get a temporary construction easement on another 3.7 acres of land that will expire upon completion of the parkway and the linear park.

Norris told the audience and his fellow Councilors that he will be voting against the resolution.

Council approves concept for new runoff plan

Conceptual drawing of stormwater management plan

On May 5, Council approved a revised stormwater management plan for the Meadowcreek Parkway. The original design showed only one pond to retain runoff from the roadway’s hard surface, but this did not meet with the current expectations of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

“It impacted a live stream [Schenck’s Branch] and it was also not capturing the majority of the stormwater runoff,” said Jeanette Janiczek, a City transportation engineer who presented the new plan to Council. Since March 2007, a committee made up of citizens as well as City and County staff has been working on a revision.

“We proposed turning this one-pond facility into several stormwater management amenities that would treat the quality and the quantity of the stormwater runoff,” Janiczek said. “It would be more aesthetically pleasing, blend in with the topography of the park landscape, and would also be more  an educational feature for the park.”

Councilor Huja asked if it was possible to increase the size of at least one of the ponds, because he said Charlottesville should have some sort of a lake or pond. Janiczek said the committee concluded a large pond wouldn’t satisfy the regulatory agencies.

During the Council’s public comment period, Meadowcreek Parkway opponent Peter Kleeman had raised concerns that plans for the Meadowcreek Parkway Interchange appeared to overlap with the location of the stormwater management ponds. Janiczek said the two projects are separate but are being coordinated by City staff.

“We’re still in concept with the interchange, and if we could move to the design, and we could nail down and answer more specifically your questions,” Janiczek said.

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST

• 1:00 - City Attorney Craig Brown reviews resolution passed by the School Board
• 5:25 - Mayor Norris asks about six 'expectations' made by School Board
• 9:34 - Public hearing begins with Collete Hall of the North Downtown Neighborhood Association
• 11:52 - Public hearing comment from Stratton Salidis
• 14:37 - Public hearing comment from Peter Kleeman
• 17:52 - Public hearing comment from John Thompson
• 19:34 - Public hearing comment from Ernie Reed of the Living Education Center
• 26:30 - Council begins discussion of stormwater management plan, with report from Jeanette Janicyzk

 Sean Tubbs

County Board endorses daily passenger rail service to DC

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has endorsed a resolution to encourage the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) to help set up daily passenger rail service between Lynchburg and New York City via Washington D.C. 

Amtrak has suggested two potential routes, one of which would travel daily between Lynchburg and New York City, via Charlottesville, Manassas and Alexandria. The other would serve the Hampton Roads area via Richmond and the Interstate 95 corridor. Either route would need State Rail Enhancement Funds for infrastructure upgrades to allow for the service, and would need to be included on VDRPT’s 2009-2014 Six Year Improvement Program.

The resolution was on the Board’s consent agenda for its May 8 meeting. Albemarle County Board Chairman Ken Boyd (Rivanna) said he took issue with the service being characterized as a “commuter” service.

“I don’t like that [term] tied to it, because it’s an indication we could become a bedroom community,” Boyd said.  Supervisor David Slutzky (Rio) said the term “commuter” is misleading. He said he knows many people who make frequent trips to the DC area, and getting them off the road would be a benefit. A survey conducted last year by the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce showed that more than two-thirds of Chamber members would choose an alternative to driving to Washington if one were available.

Before the vote on the consent agenda, Jeff Werner of the Piedmont Environmental Council urged the Board to reconsider their support, and said the PEC felt the other route would provide more benefit to a more densely populated portion of the Virginia.

“We’ve long argued to the state that commuter rail and rail has to address where the population of the state lives and where it’s going to and from, and that is the I-95 corridor,” Werner said. He said the PEC is not against passenger rail for Charlottesville, but that I-95 route should be fixed first.  Werner suggested that if Albemarle County wanted a commuter rail service to Washington, it should be planning now for the change in land use patterns.

“When we start to look at things like this in the Piedmont, we need to look at what does that mean. If there’s a train station that people can catch a train and go to Washington, you need to draw a circle around that train station because people will live around there, “ Werner said.

Slutzky said the cost of implementing the Lynchburg route was much lower than the I-95 route because of extra infrastructure requirements. Rooker pointed out that the City of Charlottesville has already been working on increasing the residential density around the train station, which is located on West Main Street.

Supervisor Ann Mallek (White Hall) sought one change in the resolution, to add a paragraph describing the environmental benefits of rail travel. The passed resolution included language that reads:  “VDRPT has calculated the new Piedmont Corridor rail service would reduce CO2 emissions by 1500 tons per year.”
 
Supervisor Sally Thomas called for a work session to discuss all of the region’s rail issues, including the possibility of commuter rail to Crozet as well as a strategy to deal with an increase in freight traffic. Last week, Butch Davies of the Commonwealth Transportation Board told the Planning and Coordination Council that Norfolk Southern will drastically increase the amount of freight traffic in the coming years. 

Sean Tubbs

Mayor Norris appears on WINA and discusses roads, water, and Kevin Lynch

Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris appeared yesterday morning on WINA's Charlottesville Live radio program with Jay James and Jane Foy as part of the station's monthly Government Day. Norris spoke about the Meadowcreek Parkway, the Community Water Supply Plan, Council's relationship with former Councilor Kevin Lynch, and the challenge of finding affordable living choices for citizens while maintaining the character of Charlottesville's historic neighborhoods.

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On the Meadowcreek Parkway, Norris said he expects Council to approve the granting of an easement to VDOT on City land used by Charlottesville High School at their June 2, 2008 meeting.  That easement is for a portion of the parkway in Albemarle County.  At the Southern terminus of the Meadowcreek Parkway is the intersection with the Route 250 Bypass.  Council will hold a work session on the design of that interchange at a work session on June 4, 2008 [event details].

"I am actually not a supporter of the Meadowcreek Parkway, but there is a majority on Council to build the road and that is where we are heading," said Norris.  On the interchange design, Norris said he was confident a "scaled down" interchange could be designed that a majority on Council would support.

Brian Wheeler

Butch Davies updates area officials on transportation projects

Butch Davies

Top officials from Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the University of Virginia have been briefed on the status of various transportation projects in our area.  Butch Davies, Culpeper District Representative on the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), spoke for about forty minutes to the Planning and Coordination Council at their meeting on May 1, 2008.

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Davies said he is frustrated at the state’s inability to fund transportation projects.

“Where we had funding for projects, we do not have sufficient funding for building,” Davies said. Costs for materials and labor are accelerating rapidly each year, as does the cost of right of way. “In many cases now, right of way is costing more than the actual construction of the roads.”

However, Davies was optimistic at the state’s involvement in intermodal freight transportation, which he said will help limit the growth of trucks on the road. However, he also said that a huge port expansion at Hampton Roads will double the freight cargo needing transport. 

“And with that growing capacity, Norfolk Southern is looking a rail-line which will carry piggy-back rail to Roanoke… to a new inland port,” Davies said. From there, freight will be transferred to truck, which could lead to increased truck traffic on US Route 29.  Secondary roads throughout Virginia with at-grade railroad crossings should expect an increasing number of delays.

Davies also suggested that a look at Bus Rapid Transit for the US Route 29 corridor might be part of the coming $1.5 million US Route 29 Corridor Study that VDOT is currently putting out to bid. The study will look at ways to speed up traffic along Route 29 from Amherst north to Gainesville. Davies said communities to the south are seeking a limited access highway that would be Interstate-quality, but added that the real focus on Route 29 will come because of increased congestion on Interstate 81.

“Over the next eight to ten years, I think we’re going to see a growing use of the 29 corridor as an alternate for that north-south traffic,” Davies said.  However, Davies said the study will involve input from each community along the way. “There is a realization that one size will not fit all… the corridor has changed so dramatically in the decade and a half since the last study… You’re really going to have to look at some innovative concepts.” He also said that there will be “some high-profile projects that are going to get funded” possibly with a bond issue.

Davies also gave local leaders an update on other projects in this area.

• Western Bypass:  Davies said VDOT has acquired 90% of the right of way for the bypass at a cost of about $40 million. However, he said the remaining portion could cost as much as that which has already been purchased, given inflation.  The alternative selected in the mid 1990’s is now obsolete, and there is no funding for construction. Davies said there has been talk about using the right of way for a smaller collector road. However, the Federal Highway Administration may ask for the reimbursement of federal funds used to purchase the right of way if the improvements are not somehow related to US 29.
• Meadowcreek Parkway:  Davies praised the County for committing its VDOT revenue-sharing money to the project to keep it on schedule, as well as purchasing replacement parkland for the City of Charlottesville. Davies said the Parkway’s interchange with Route 250, which has a $27 million federal earmark that will allow bypass traffic to move through the intersection without stopping, is the “lynchpin” to solving a lot of issues.
• Hillsdale Drive Extension:  Davies said funding for the Hillsdale Drive project may be threatened due to the state’s 44% reduction in funds for highway construction. Davies said Hillsdale is on something called “the yellow sheet” which means that its future depends on landowners along the right of way will donate their land. In all, Davies is hoping landowners will contribute at least $12 million of the $17 million required for the road, which he said would provide relief to Route 29.
• Second lane for US 29 Ramp at Best Buy: There are several projects to improve the Route 29 Corridor, and Davies is frustrated that VDOT is not committing to a City project to add a second southbound lane entering the Route 29 Bypass at Best Buy. The project may not get funded in the Six Year Plan, but Davies said he is doing what he can to provide other funding.  “That piece is a major bottleneck, and with growing traffic in the 29 Corridor, it’s going to become more important that we address that now,” Davies said.
• Widen Route 29 between the Rivanna Rivers:  A project to widen Route 29 between the South Fork of the Rivanna River through Hollymead is now off the Six Year Plan due to lack of funding. Davies said developers will pay for stretches of additional lanes on US 29, but the “hourglass” is one of the issues he hopes the US 29 Corridor Study will address with a “high-profile project.”  For example, the North Pointe development and the UVA North Fork Research Park are expected to add some new lanes on portions of the highway between Airport Road and the North Fork Rivanna River leaving a constricted "hourglass" between Hollymead and the South Fork Rivanna River.
  
• Fontaine-Sunset Connector: Davies said he is worried about funding prospects for this road, which is desired by both the City and the County. He suggested that this project won’t move forward until localities can develop their own source of transportation funding, such as a local taxing district similar to what Fairfax and Prince William Counties use to pay for the Route 28 corridor. 
• Eastern Connector: Davies said it is important for the community to get consensus on this proposed road, which he envisions as a collector road, and not a bypass. “It’s going to service the people who use that to be able to access other areas,” he said. But, he said it could create “political havoc” if the public is not behind the eventual alternative. 

Davies concluded his presentation by saying that funding for the Advance Mills replacement bridge is secure, but that other unfunded projects may go without. He urged City and County officials to continue being flexible and wise about applying for revenue-sharing projects, enhancement projects and looking for other revenue sources.

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST

• 4:00 - Davies is optimistic about freight
• 7:36 - Davies discusses how VDOT and CTB now include pedestrian and bicycle access in all road development
• 8:20 - Davies on rapid transit, and the idea of developing corridors for BRT and single-vehicle
• 9:31 - Davies discusses the coming corridor study for US 29 from Amherst north to Gainesville, including Charlottesville
• 14:30 - Davies gives an update on the US 29 Western Bypass
• 17:16 - Davies on the Meadowcreek Parkway
• 23:15 - Davies on the Hillsdale Drive Extension project
• 24:53 - Davies on other projects along US 29
• 33:00 - Board Chairman Ken Boyd asks for more information on US 29 corridor study
• 33:40 - Supervisor Dennis Rooker asks if consultant for study will be able to suggest a whole new highway to connect I-64 and I-66. In his response, Davies predicts that the study will not come up with a consensus across localities
• 38:50 - Boyd asks if the forthcoming 29 Corridor Study will incorporate results of Places29 study, and if so, whether that will allow the County to use primary road funds to build a bridge for Berkmar Drive Extended
• 41:00 - County Executive Bob Tucker asks Davies how much freight traffic will be taken off of US 29 by increased rail
• 41:41 - Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris asks for advice on getting the regional transportation authority, followed by a conversation about van-pools
• 48:26 - Councilor Julian Taliaferro asked Davies for his opinion on the Fontaine-Sunset Connector
• 52:25 - Rooker asks a follow-up question on the intermodal freight facility being built in Roanoke
• 58:10 - City Manager Gary O'Connell asks about funding for replacements of Belmont and JPA Bridges
• 59:20 - Rooker asks about VDOT's efforts to require railroad companies to pay for bridge repair projects

Sean Tubbs

City School Board votes to grant easement for Meadowcreek Parkway

The Charlottesville School Board has voted 4-1 to grant an easement of 9 acres near Charlottesville High School to construct the County’s portion of the Meadowcreek Parkway. The matter now goes to the City Council, who will vote on the easement at its next meeting.  The approval caps a month in which a Board elected to guide the City’s educational system was asked to weigh in on a transportation matter.

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School Board member Juandiego Wade, who works as the County’s transportation planner, recused himself from the meeting and left the room.  Another member, Alvin Edwards, left the meeting shortly before the public comment period after suffering an allergy attack.

The item first came before the Board on April 3 as an information item, and was deferred following a presentation at the April 17 meeting. Ten people spoke against the resolution at the May 1 meeting including long-time opponents of the Parkway and neighbors who objected to the at-grade intersection with Melbourne Road.

After the public comment period, the Board discussed the matter for an hour and a half before taking a vote. They asked several follow-up questions from their previous discussions.

City School Board Members Colette Blount (left) and Kathleen Galvin (right)

Colette Blount, who openly spoke out against the Parkway at the April 22 meeting of the City Council, asked City Planner Angela Tucker to give a history of the funding of the project, and asked what environmental review had been performed to date.  After Tucker answered, Blount expressed her dissatisfaction with the answers, and said she did not feel comfortable voting without more information.
Tucker said she wanted to assure the School Board that all three components of the Meadowcreek Parkway are being pursued legally, and that all of the necessary environmental reviews required by state and federal authorities are being conducted.

At the Board’s meeting on April 17, much time was spent trying to plot out a location for a future trail to connect the high school to the linear park. Kathleen Galvin had expressed the concern that students would have to cross the parkway at-grade to get to the north-south trail.  After that, she met with Chris Gensic and Dan Mahon, trail planners for the City and County respectively.

“We talked about the various ways that there could be additional east-west connections in addition to the controlled intersections at streets,” Galvin said. She passed out a rough diagram that listed where these might be.  Gensic said a lot more engineering work would need to be conducted, but that there were several places where a future trail could go.  That prompted Blount to call for a second postponement of the resolution because there were too many “what-ifs” to resolve. 

Dan Mahon (left) and Chris Gensic (right)

Dan Mahon said the linear park would be able to serve as both a recreational trail as well as a way for people to commute on bikes to the City. He pointed out that the draft Places29 Master Plan shows an uninterrupted pedestrian trail all the way up to Hollymead, as well as connections to the Rivanna Trail. Gensic said he was still working on the funding to connect a new bike trail for the Route 250 bypass to the Meadowcreek Parkway trail. 

Blount asked if it were possible to build the linear park without building the road. Mahon said it was his understanding that the proposed trail system was created as the Parkway shrank from 4 lanes to 2 lanes. Tucker said the Parkway was designed to balance all modes of transportation. Galvin said she appreciated “the more progressive attitude” but said she was bothered by how the Meadowcreek Parkway separated the trail from the high school.

“It’s still the Rubicon, it’s still separating one half from the other without east-west connections,” Galvin said. “We’re  left here hoping that  a culvert can be transformed at some point, hoping we can get a bridge. It needs to happen concurrent with construction of the parkway.”

Tucker said nothing in the Parkway’s design precluded the future construction of any additional east-west bridge, but that they could not be added at this time.

“What happens if they are added now is that the schedule of this project and the funding for this project, which are also considerations that factor into project development also get disrupted,” Tucker said. “At some point, we are directed to move forward with the design.”

Board member Llezelle Dugger asked where City Council was in its approval process. Michie said the City Council approved a temporary construction easement for its portion with conditions. Tucker said two of the conditions remaining to be met are Council approval of a storm water management plan, as well as Council approval of the interchange design for the Route 250 bypass and the Meadowcreek Parkway. 

Michie asked Jim Tolbert, Director of the City’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services, why the Parkway’s intersection with Melbourne Road was not grade-separated. Tolbert said that decision predated him, but Tucker said it was thought to be too expensive. 

Michie asked if the federal earmark money of $27 million could be shifted to another City project if City Council chooses an at-grade interchange rather than a grade-separated one. Tucker said her staff had found out that if the interchange project does not move forward, the funding would be shifted to another federal project elsewhere in the state.

Galvin wanted to know if City Council could overrule the School Board if it voted to deny the easement.  Michie said it was his view and Llezelle Dugger’s view that the Board’s consent was necessary, to a point.

“If  we put in a condition that we say is contingent on this and City Council doesn’t adopt that that contingency, I think that would be a legal battle,” Michie said. “We would have some legal standing to argue about if it wasn’t done, but it’s not a slam dunk… I think with the proposed resolution that we’re all on the same page.”

Blount said she had received over twenty e-mails from people opposed to the resolution, but only one contact in favor.  She expressed her wariness over giving away land near the high school.
“As a member of the School board, when we’re looking at property that the school needs for our children… Charlottesville City is a tiny City and we do not have land up for grabs,” Blount said. “We do not need to assist the County in their traffic woes.”

School Board member Leah Puryear made a motion to cut off debate, given that the Board has spent two meetings discussing the issue. The motion failed, and the discussion continued.

Michie said he had mixed feelings about the Parkway, but that the decision to proceed was made by City Council, people elected to make transportation decisions. He said he felt the opponents of the Parkway should direct their attention to Council, but that the Board  should vote to grant the easement.

“This land has always been on the chopping block for the Meadowcreek Parkway,” Michie said. “There’s no surprise… we should have never put a field on it because at all times when this property was purchased, it was  known that was the land for the Meadowcreek Parkway.”

Michie added that Charlottesville High School was built in a neighborhood, an atypical location for a school.  He said the Parkway could be a way to connect the school to the heart of the City, and that high schools are often built around busy roads.

Galvin said she could see the benefits of the Meadowcreek Parkway for the regional road system, but suggested that the 50 acres of County land might one day be necessary to grow food. She said she would support the road as a way to improve connectivity, but was offended that the Board wasn’t consulted earlier. 

Llezelle Dugger said it was important to maintain a cooperative attitude with the City Council, given that the Council is the primary funder of the City’s school system. 

Leah Puryear said she was not elected for transportation issues, and that she would follow the will of Council. She said the City and County erred in not constructing a ring road when it had the chance, but that the School Board had to move on and get back to its regular agenda.

Blount said she felt rushed into making a decision, and said there were too many unresolved questions.

“The City has been considering this for decades, and we were given just a month,” Blount said.  Galvin called for a joint work session with City Council. VDOT’s Brent Sprinkle said he was unsure if another month’s delay would have an effect, given that the City is not holding a work session on the interchange design until after a June 4, 2008 work session.

Galvin made a motion to amend the resolution to require that the School Board’s granting of the easements is conditional on the construction of pedestrian bridges at half-mile intervals up and down the whole length of the Parkway.  That motion failed.  Her second motion was to require that the School Board be regularly updated on efforts to build the east-west pedestrian connection.  That  amendment passed after a great deal of wordsmithing.

With the amendments out the way, the resolution passed 4-1 with Blount against.  Next stop, City Council.

Sean Tubbs

CTS goes fare-free for a Friday

The Charlottesville Transit Service (CTS) is holding another in a series of fare-free days tomorrow as a way to encourage people to use public transportation. For one day, anyone can get on or off a CTS bus without paying the 75 cents usually required.

The free bus rides are part of the City’s Clean Commute Day, which is designed to promote alternative transportation options. Organizers are also hoping people will sign a pledge to take alternative forms of transportation one day each week. The ultimate goal is to reduce car trips by people driving alone. People who sign the pledge will have their names entered into a drawing for a bus trip to New York City on Oliver Kuttner’s Starlight Express. There will also be a two-hour celebration at the Community Chalkboard from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The event is sponsored across Virginia by the American Lung Association and locally sponsored by the area transit agencies.

Last year, the MPO Policy Board discussed the possibility of going fare-free year-round as a way of boosting ridership. The City later decided against taking that step because of the costs.  The University makes a contribution to CTS which allows its students, faculty and staff to show their ID to board a CTS bus for free. CTS Director Bill Watterson told the MPO policy board last month that the program is pushing ridership figures into record territory. He said CTS is on track to provide 1.7 million rides in the fiscal year ending on June 30.

CTS officials have been working on other ways to make it easier for people to use the system. A new “universal transfer system” to make it easier to switch buses was put into place in March. The service also began offering “real-time” information to commuters utilizing GPS technology. The service lets passengers know how long before the next bus arrives at a given stop. 

This summer, children and teenagers will be able to ride for free with a CTS Youth Free Ride ID card. ID cards can be obtained by appointment at the Downtown Transit Station. Phone 970-3649 for more information.

Sean Tubbs

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

Planners want your feedback in creating regional transportation vision

The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC) wants your help in updating the region’s long-range transportation plan.  The United Jefferson Area Mobility 2025 Plan, or UNJAM 2025, was adopted in 2004 and is used by area and state government agencies to help plan out future roads by taking land use and development into consideration.

The process to create UnJAM 2035 officially kicks off on May 10 with a regional workshop to be held at Monticello High School. Before then, area residents are encouraged to complete a survey about their own transportation patterns.  Participants are asked how they get to work or school, how far do they travel, and how frequently they use public transportation. There are also opportunities to make suggestions, and add comments about the area’s road, train and trail infrastructure.

“Both the feedback we get from the survey and the workshop will help us in drafting the parts of the plan where we talk about regional priorities,” said Ann Whitham, a TJPDC planner who works on transportation. She said the survey process gives the region the opportunity to find out if conditions have changed in the past five years. For instance, the price of gas is significantly higher than it was in 2004. You can review the last plan here.

Each metropolitan area that collects federal funds is required to create and maintain a long-range transportation plan which lists important projects likely to be under construction during the planning horizon. The plan is fiscally constrained, meaning only those projects which have a possibility of funding are included on the list. UNJAM is just one measure of how the community would like to grow.

Sean Tubbs

VDOT moves ahead with utility relocation for Meadowcreek Parkway

The alignment for Albemarle County's portion of the Meadowcreek Parkway is marked in blue

While the Charlottesville City Council continues to debate the design of the interchange for the southern terminus of the Meadowcreek Parkway, preparation work continues this week at the northern end. The eastbound lane of East Rio Road will be closed on Tuesday morning to allow crews to relocate utilities. VDOT spokesman Lou Hatter told Charlottesville Tomorrow that means the project is still moving forward.

“We’re looking to get it advertised in the late summer,” Hatter said. Work in the County has begun now because the County’s portion of the road will take longer to complete, and because of the time involved in coordinating between VDOT and the various utility companies. That goal is for the utilities to be taken care so the eventual contractor hired to build the road will be able to focus on road construction.

VDOT also has to continue negotiating settlements for property along the Parkway’s right-of-way. One of the last remaining owners is the City of Charlottesville, which owns about nine critical acres of land in the County. The Charlottesville City School Board is expected to vote Thursday night on a resolution to donate the land to the project. Some Board members have expressed concern about the safety of the road, which will intersect with Melbourne Road near Charlottesville High School.

One member of the School Board, Colette Blount, spoke out against the Meadowcreek Parkway in general, during a City Council public hearing on the Meadowcreek Parkway Interchange.  Council declined to endorse the alternative selected by the Steering Committee overseeing its design, and will instead hold a work session on the matter in late May or early June.

Hatter said another remaining property still under negotiation is an easement through the Wetzel property, a 33 acre parcel just to the south of CATEC.

Albemarle County Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) told Charlottesville Tomorrow he’s hopeful the project will soon get underway.

“The project has consistently been supported by the Board of Supervisors and by City Council, and I think that the City, probably within the next month, will come to a decision on the interchange design,” Rooker said. “My expectation is the School Board will approve the transfer of the property, even though I’m not certain that’s legally required.”

Rooker acknowledged that the right of way acquisition process has taken longer than expected, resulting in a slight delay. He said the City should make its decisions quickly so utility relocation can occur on their side of the project. VDOT’s Lou Hatter says further delays will only increase the cost of the road. In the meantime, utility relocation for the County’s portion will continue throughout the spring and summer.

Sean Tubbs

Danville and Lynchburg Chamber presidents advocate for 29 bypass

The presidents of the Danville and Lynchburg Chambers of Commerce have called on Charlottesville’s business community for help in building demand for a bypass of US Route 29. They were invited to address the North Charlottesville Business Council  on April 23, 2008 to give their view of the draft Places29 Master Plan, which includes converting key intersections along 29 to grade-separated interchanges as a way of speeding up through-traffic.

“We’ve been dealing with the conflict between being a local road and a regional highway,” said Michael McGowan, outgoing NCBC President. He said the Places29 process has been a frustrating one, and there has not been enough input from other communities.

Podcast produced by Charlottesville Tomorrow * Player by Odeo

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20080423-NCBC-29.mp3

Laurie Moran of the Danville / Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce

Laurie Moran, president of the Danville / Pittsylvania County Chambers of Commerce said her community is only now rebounding from the economic collapse of the Southside in the late 20th century, as the tobacco and textile industries both fell apart. Companies like IKEA have recently opened new factories, but will require a reliable transportation network for advanced manufacturing to flourish.

Manufacturers want immediate access to markets because retailers and other manufacturers no longer want to carry inventory, meaning supplies and parts need to be able to get to their destination “just in time.”

“For us and our companies that are trying to get product out of the area, and to get supplies in, we depend heavily on U.S. 29. Right now, most of our manufacturing companies are taking U.S. 58 east to Interstate 95 because of the bottleneck here in the Charlottesville area,” Moran said. She added that access to Dulles International Airport is important for recruiting more overseas investment.

Danville opened up a bypass/expressway of U.S. 29 in the early 1990’s, and the Lynchburg district followed suit earlier this decade with an expressway around Madison Heights in  Amherst County.  Rex Hammond of the Greater Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce said U.S. 29 also serves as the primary north-south highway for his community, given that Lynchburg does not have an Interstate highway.  He said 20% of Lynchburg’s workforce is employed in manufacturing, and that the City is home to about 5 colleges with over 20,000 students.

Rex Hammond of the Greater Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce

“We’re interested in the vitality of the entire corridor,” Hammond said. “29 runs the breadth of this country and for us it’s our main commercial artery.”  He added he was concerned about growing congestion of Route 29 north of Charlottesville as well.

The Places29 transportation plan includes construction of six bridges, interchanges or overpasses along Route 29 with a cost approaching $185 million (2007 estimate not including right-of-way acquisition).  These grade-separated approaches would eliminate traffic signals for vehicles on Route 29 at Hydraulic Rd., Rio Rd., Hilton Heights, Ashwood Blvd., Timberwood Blvd., Airport Rd.  These six improvements are part of the twenty-year plan.  Greenbrier Drive is expected to have a grade-separated interchange sometime after 2025.
McGowan asked Hammond what he thought about the Places29 plan.  “From my perspective, the notion of having students and senior citizens and the public walking across a US highway is a ridiculous notion,” Hammond said. “These two concepts cannot co-exist. I think it’s a cruel hoax that is being perpetuated on your community.”

Carter Myers, a former member of the Commonwealth Transportation Board who supported the Western Bypass, said the issue was dead unless federal dollars were available. He asked Moran and Hammond if they had plans to lobby the federal government similar to the way this community lobbied for a federal earmark to build the interchange for the Meadowcreek Parkway. Moran said Danville spent 15 years accumulating enough money from VDOT and the federal government for its bypass, and

Myers said the Culpeper District would not support the project, and that an effort would have to be made to secure federal funding. Hammond said there had to be a resolve on the part of Charlottesville to build one.

“This project is being ignored by your planning district. My Senator, Steve Newman, has put in legislation that’s been passed and has been supported by the Attorney General that Charlottesville needs to build its bypass,” Hammond said. “We’re waiting patiently for the [Charlottesville] community to be part of the solution.”

Developer Chuck Rotgin of the Great Eastern Management Company said that the current alignment for the bypass is obsolete.  “It seems to me that if we’re going to be talking about a bypass, it has to be a true bypass and it has to be either east or west of town, and it’s going to take political courage and local leadership to see that through,” Rotgin said.

VDOT is currently soliciting proposals for a study of the entire US 29 Corridor from the North Carolina border to Gainesville at Interstate 66 in Northern Virginia. 

TIMELINE FOR PODCAST:

• 1:00 - Introduction by Mike McGowan, outgoing president of the North Charlottesville Business Council
• 3:12 - Introduction of speakers by Tim Hulbert, President of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce
• 8:23 - Laurie Moran, President of the Danville / Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce
• 18:03 - Rex Hammond, President of the Greater Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce
• 25:24 - Questions begin with one about Areva, a spin-off of nuclear reactor producer Babcock and Wilcox
• 25:51 - McGowan asks the guests what they think about the Places29 plan, with its contention that US 29 can be both a commercial Main Street as well as a place for through-traffic
• 28:46 - Carter Myers questions Hammond and Moran on their strategy to lobby for federal dollars
• 33:08 - Neil Williamson of the Free Enterprise Forum asks how qualify of life has been affected by bypasses in Danville and Lynchburg
• 37:35 - Chuck Rotgin says that the current bypass alignment is obsolete
• 41:39 - Someone asks if widening of I-81 will benefit Danville and Lynchburg
• 43:48 - Supervisor Dennis Rooker tells people in the room to lobby Richmond for more transportation funds

Sean Tubbs