The merits of roundabouts seem to be gaining traction in the Charlottesville area, thanks in part to efforts of groups such as the Free Enterprise Forum, and a few in Loudoun County. On the other side, however, is a Supervisor in Loudoun County – from a Leesburg Today article by Dusty Smith – Snow seeks to defund the project, asking supervisors to send letters to the county’s congressional delegation and to the state, suggesting that the federal money be redirected to hurricane relief in the Gulf states and that any state funds earmarked for the projest be shifted to improve Rt…. “Other people have needs.â€Efficient transportation is not a mere convenience, but one of the primary responsibilities of government…. The Free Enterprise Forum’s Review of Reasonableness states that Our brief assessment suggests that the 2/3-lane hybrid roundabout concept is the preferred grade concept: it can accommodate future traffic volumes, likely can be built within existing right-of-way, and is compatible with the 2-lane Meadowcreek/McIntire and 4-lane U.S. Route 250 roadway configuration.Again from the Leesburg Today article – “analysis indicates that at locations where single lane roundabouts have been installed there has been a 68 percent decrease in the total accident rate/million vehicles entering the intersection, 100 percent decrease in the fatal accident rate/million vehicles, an 86 percent reduction in the injury accident rate/million vehicles and a 41 percent reduction in the property damage†as a result of accidents.How does one argue with these results?
Browsing Category Transportation
Green Albemarle County?
I wish I could have gone to this. From a Daily Progress progress article this morning.Miles of greenway trails connecting parks, homes and schools.A streetcar system in Charlottesville, quickly moving people and reducing car traffic.A new emphasis on locally grown food, increasing nutrition and decreasing oil consumption.These ideas were the focus of Albemarle County’s second Green Infrastructure Forum on Thursday. About 40 residents attended the event, which focused on the greenway trails system, downtown transportation and local food production.There are a lot of good ideas here, and I am sure there were more that didn’t make the paper. Does anyone out there have notes they would like to share?Radical ideas like this that seek to change not just how our community grows, but also how we live and behave on a daily basis need the right people to support them.
October Forum Watch
IN THIS ISSUE: Important Dates Zoning Issues Master PlanningWater Supply Transportation Policy Other Land Use Editorial Important Dates October 3rd – Greene County Board of Supervisors Candidate Forum – 7:00 pm William Monroe Middle SchoolOctober 8th – Charlottesville Neighborhood Design Day 9:00 – 3:00 pm Various locations see article in Master PlanningOctober 10th – TJPDC MPO Transportation Improvement Program Public Hearing – 5:00 pm 401 E. Water StreetOctober 10th – Albemarle County Jack Jouett Supervisor Candidate Forum – 7:00 pm Jack Jouett Middle SchoolOctober 17th – Albemarle County Rio District Supervisor Candidate Forum – 7:00 pm Woodbrook Elementary SchoolOctober 27th – Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority Water Supply Community Outreach meeting – 6:30 Monticello HSOctober 31st – HalloweenOctober 31 – November 4 Places 29 Charrette #2 details to follow soon ACOBACOB – Albemarle County Office Building CCH- Charlottesville City HallGCAB – Greene County Administration BuildingFCGC – Fluvanna County Government Center Return to Top Transportation Policy Meadowcreek Parkway – The Free Enterprise Forum released a report indicating the Meadowcreek Parkway Project could be completed prior to the separate federally funded US 250/McIntire Meadowcreek Parkway interchange project…. Details and locations of the meeting can be found at http://www.charlottesville.org/content/files/2CCD2AF7-2578-49B6-9DA3-C82AB79DD19E.pdf Fluvanna County In what may be one of the most overreaching decisions to date, the Free Enterprise Forum has learned that Fluvanna County is requiring Army Corps of Engineers and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality approvals on yield plans (A yield plan is a fictitious development that indicates how many units could be built on a particular parcel by right) submitted to determine density of their required cluster subdivision…. A map of the study area can be found here http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/Forms_Center/Departments/Board_of_Supervisors/Forms/Agenda/2005Files/20050504/Northerndevelopmentattachb.pdfReturn to Top Other Land Use Albemarle County Mountain Overlay Committee – This committee is now idle waiting for staff to draft proposed language for a Mountain Overlay District (MOD) Ordinance.
Local traffic is truly a regional issue
An interesting discussion at cvillenews.com yielded, in addition to a thoughtful and cogent debate, this link that gives direction as to where the Charlalbemarle traffic is coming from.Who knew that an estimated 99 people commute from DC to Cville? Continuing to focus on transportation/infrastructure/growth issues on a county-by-county basis is myopic, short-sighted and frankly, silly…. Transportation and infrastructure are matters that are driven by and have a direct impact on the real estate industry and profession. More vehicular traffic on the same infrastructure will affect our quality of life.
Albemarle Place
From today’s C-Ville, written by John Borgmeyer – With the promise of 1.8 million square feet of new construction—including a hotel, restaurants, a cinema, retail outlets, a grocery store, a two-storey department store and up to 800 residential units—Albemarle Place would be the latest incarnation of Albemarle County’s “neighborhood model.â€Â Adopted in 2001, the neighborhood model asks developers to create more “urban†landscapes by building according to 12 principles, including “pedestrian orientation,†“buildings and spaces of a human scale,†“relegated parking†and “affordability with dignity.â€It seems the developers are fairly confident they will receive approval, yet not a word about infrastructure.
Regional Transportation Poll
I am trying out a new feature – a poll to the right. Our transportation/infrastructure issues are not isolated to the City of C’Ville, County of Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, et…. If you have the time and inclination, please take a moment to vote …… If you have any ideas or additions to the poll, please post your comments below.
Meadowcreek Parkway study
Things that could trip it up -1) Lawsuit requiring the localities to tie the interchange and and the parkway as one large project rather than two separate, independent entities (which it is). I wrote about this (thanks to C-Ville) last week.2) TheThe Free Enterprise Forum has just released an exceptional study they commissioned by Draper Aden Associates.Neil Williamson, the director of the FEF, said “What our report shows is that an at grade intersection that’s actually a roundabout would handle the traffic for at least the near term while the federal project moves forward through it’s approval processâ€.If funding gets yanked due to Katrina and now Rita expenses, this study proves that there is a very viable alternativeHarrison Rue of TJPED states in yesterday’s DP:“While I agree with the premise of the report, it will be far better, now that we’ve found the money, to do a timely location and design study and ensure both components of the intersection are built at the same time,†…… By the time any new studies are completed, they may be on their way to obsolescence as the numbers and environment (as well as the political environment) may have changed. In short, the addition of federal funds to the mix may present us the opportunity to build the interchange.