Federal group finds parkway memo insufficient

A federal historic preservation body has determined that there should be more discussion on how historic properties could be compromised from the construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway’s terminus, an interchange at the U.S. 250 Bypass.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation wrote a letter late last month to the Federal Highway Administration outlining its concerns, saying it was troublesome that the overall outcomes of building the diamond-shaped, above-grade interchange have not been included in a memorandum of agreement about the project.

The memo - whose signatories are the FHWA, the Charlottesville government, the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation - is supposed to outline agreed-upon measures that the highway administration will take to avoid or prevent the negative consequences on historic resources that would spur from the project’s construction.

The letter, written by Charlene Dwin Vaughn in the agency’s Office of Federal Agency Programs, said the council appreciated some of the changes already made to the agreement based on concerns voiced by them and by the State Historic Preservation Officer.

But it continued to say, “We are disappointed; however, that the [memorandum of agreement] does not address the cumulative adverse effects on McIntyre (sic) Park and the Scottish-style golf course, which are likely to occur, in part, as a result of a new interchange. FHWA’s unwillingness to include stipulations in the MOA documenting the city’s commitments to minimize the impact of the interchange on historic properties … is also problematic,” the letter stated.

Read more in Tuesday’s Daily Progress.