Alternative transportation from a CVille-centric POV

The Daily Progress (no longer available) today continues its series on methods of alternative transportation and growth. There is a good discussion at cvillenews.

Anderson estimates that it would cost $10 million to $15 million per mile to build a Charlottesville streetcar. It sounds expensive, she admitted, but added that when the price is compared with the cost of other transportation projects, it’s relatively low.
She pointed to the Hillsdale Drive Extension (no longer available), a one-mile road that will connect Hydraulic Road to Hillsdale at its existing terminus at Greenbrier Drive and cost between $17 million and $27 million. A design study is underway, and a build date has not been set.
The Meadowcreek Parkway, running about two miles, is currently estimated to cost at least $50 million if it’s built with a grade-separated interchange at the U.S. 250 Bypass.

Some form of mass transit that is fiscally viable and efficient for moving people is a laudable goal. Comparing the streetcar plan to the Meadowcreek Parkway is silly; they are concepts that are targeted for entirely different goals and markets. Continually focusing on the challenges that the City faces serves only to reinforce the myopic view that the City is the only important entity in the region. Many (most) of the people who work in the City cannot afford to live in the City so they have to drive to get to work! If these pieces of the puzzle were being designed with the intent of being implemented as parts of a larger puzzle, they would make more sense. The piece-meal approach is a design ultimately for failure. Good articles, nonetheless.