The Meadowcreek Parkway Might Be Completed

Finally. Maybe (archived: 2010). I won’t hold my breath until I’ve actually driven on it.

Councilors voted 3-2 — with Mayor Dave Norris and Councilor Holly Edwards opposed — to allowActing City Manager Maurice Jones to endorse the project’s draft memorandum of agreement, which lists the measures the city will take to lessen the negative consequences of building the two-lane road through one of Charlottesville’s largest parks.

The proposed measures outlined in the memorandum are to establish two rain gardens that exclusively use native plants; have a landscape plan to integrate the city’s portion of the parkway into the setting’s existing natural features and minimize its influence on McIntire Park; install signage prohibiting truck traffic and posting a speed limit of 35 mph; complete photographic documentation of the eastern side of the park; and complete historical documentation of the McIntire Golf Course.

Albemarle County’s portion opened six weeks ago.

We’ve been asking for decades if it would ever be built.

I still wonder – if we were designing a transportation solution today rather than trying to implement a 40-year-plus plan, would we create the Meadowcreek Parkway?

Finally:

The relationship between the City of Charlottesville and the County of Albemarle is akin to that of divorced parents who really kind of hate each other but are able to keep it together justenough to keep the kids fed. In this case, the kids are the citizens of Albemarle and Charlottesville.