DP and Charlottesville Tomorrow begin Four-Part Series on Traffic and Growth

One of the primary reasons my clients move to the Charlottesville region* is because, relatively, our traffic is insignificant compared to what they are used to. But for how long?

Part One started yesterday in the Daily Progress.

The difficulty in balancing growth pressures and a decline in transportation infrastructure spending is growing more acute, but there is little movement toward solutions.

Part Two today focuses on Pantops. To my mind, this quote sums of Charlottesville’s and Albemarle’s mutual mindsets regarding traffic and infrastructure:

After getting new data, “maybe we can take another look at it,” said Albemarle Supervisor Kenneth C. Boyd, who said he is not opposed to building an eastern connector.

Part Three – UVA Influence on 250 continues to expand

The growth of the University of Virginia continues to set the tone for the 3-mile length of U.S. 250 from Emmet Street to Broomley Road.

At the eastern end, both the Lewis Mountain neighborhood and commuters are awaiting plans for a new performing arts center, as well as a new intersection.

At the western end, construction continues for a new 50-bed hospital next to UVa’s Northridge medical office building and Moser Radiation Therapy Center.

In between, both Charlottesville and Albemarle County are struggling to find ways to make improvements that will open the road to pedestrians and cyclists.

Part Four – Amid growth in Crozet, Albemarle seeks to maintain US 250 as a scenic byway

“I am caught between progress and familiar surroundings,” Whiting said. “The other day I left the house and there was a wall of cars on Route 250 and I couldn’t go either direction. I sat in my driveway for 30 minutes.”

Whiting said Crozet’s growth has made her feel like she is being “bombarded with an influx of people.”

“I feel like I live on a major interstate in the city and that 250 has become just insane,” she said. “I used to walk on 250, but it is not safe anymore.”

Crozet resident Barb Franko is a member of the Route 250 West Task Force who favors greater attention being given to the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, while at the same time keeping 250 west a two-lane road.

How would you solve the transit/traffic/transportation issues the Charlottesville/Albemarle region is facing?

* Charlottesville region = Charlottesviille, Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, Nelson