Charlottesville Bypass (VA)
Saying no to a wasteful, harmful highway
©Charles Shoffner
The Rivanna River in Albemarle County
SELC, our partner groups and legions of dedicated citizens have long fought to defeat the Virginia Department of Transportation's plans to build a proposed bypass of Route 29 North around Charlottesville. The proposed 6.2-mile highway would pose serious threats to the drinking water supply for more than 80,000 people and to area schools, cut through neighborhoods and the rural landscape, and spur sprawl. At the same time, the road would be enormously expensive and would do little to achieve the intended purpose of relieving traffic congestion on Route 29.
Sparked in part by citizens’ efforts in opposing the road, Virginia's Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) has shelved the Route 29 bypass indefinitely. VDOT cited the state's budget shortfall and SELC's legal challenge of the bypass as factors for the decision. SELC and others have continued to urge the CTB to focus on alternatives that can effectively resolve transportation problems in the 29 North corridor.
Existing Rt. 250 Bypass compared to Rt. 250 with overlay of proposed Rt. 29 Bypass. The sports playing fields of St. Anne's-Belfield School are in the upper right. [Click on image for enlarged detail.]
Alternatives to the bypass
VDOT’s own traffic study showed that improvements at key intersections on Route 29 are the only effective way to ease traffic congestion. A nationally acclaimed traffic engineer, Walter Kulash, whom SELC asked to look at this issue, has confirmed the VDOT traffic finding and has shown that an overpass can be designed at Hydraulic Road that would be appropriately scaled and cost-effective, and that would not take any businesses.
Additional studies have recently been conducted to examine a package of potential improvements at two key intersections: Route 29 and Hydraulic Road, and Route 29 and the nearby Route 250 bypass. A team including staff of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization, VDOT, City of Charlottesville, and Albemarle County, as well as expert consultants, has conducted detailed technical and economic analysis of these improvements. SELC is urging the state and localities to provide funding to go forward with an overpass at Route 29 and Hydraulic Road and other improvements to the network of streets in this area. Visit our Charlottesville project page to learn about our work promoting smart transportation solutions in Central Virginia.
