Park activists rally to decry interchange

You write:

“The elevated, diamond-shaped interchange is slated to be built at the U.S. 250 Bypass and McIntire Road at an estimated cost of $32.5 million, primarily funded by federal dollars.”

And how much of that will come out of the cities budget?  Cost overruns?  Shall we raise taxes to pay for this county sprawl driveway though our central park and downtown?

“Parkway opponents would like to see that funding reallocated to other projects.”

How about express bus service on U.S 250 between downtown, Pantops and 29 north?

“Parkway supporters believe the road is necessary to alleviate traffic on certain roads, such as U.S. 250 and Park Street.”

If they believe this, they don’t read the studies. The parkway by itself – without the interchange (at- grade) - would increase the morning rush hour traffic delay at McIntire Rd and the 250 Bypass from 129 seconds to 320 seconds according to the analysis of future conditions in the 250 Interchange’ s Environmental assessment study. 

http://www.250interchange.org/PDF/Environmental/finalSignedEA_091002/3-Chapter2.pdfAs

Despite the historical fact that the city explicitly rejected this design, they claim that this at- grade parkway is planned for construction if the interchange is not built,(that’s the big lie; the false premise which lays a fake foundation to skew the studies in favor of the interchange) and that the traffic nightmare this at-grade parkway would cause creates a need for the interchange.  It’s hard to fathom this at first, because one keeps forgetting that these studies pretend that the parkway is already there. 

Here’s a little more on that:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=206410700864&ref=mf

“They reiterated their belief that the 2-mile road was illegally segmented into three projects instead of one to evade federal environmental projection laws, “

Ok, this is a belief.  But a very well founded one – like evolution.

.”.and that the Virginia Department of Transportation submitted plans to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showing an at-grade intersection rather than the planned interchange.”

This is more than a “belief”, it is a fact.

“VDOT and other agencies have said the parkway project has always been viewed as three separate pieces”

If they said this they were wrong or lying. The Co. and City parts of the road were all one federal project which was dropped then chopped up in the nineties.  Please check and verify.
“but city resident Peter Kleeman said the discrepancy in plans shows that VDOT is out of step with what the City Council wants.”

Not just “out of step”.  As stated above.  When they claim the 17 lane at –grade intersection is the plan if the interchange doesn’t get built, they are wrong or lying. 

Here is a timeline with links to documents that Peter Kleeman set up. It is a great place to fact check and get a sense of the history of this sprawl developer welfare project.

http://www.angelfire.com/va3/stamp2025/CPMP/index.html

Please also check out this story and my comments after, about city staff ducking Dave Norris’s clear questions about VDOT’s recent fake plans To the Corps:

http://cvilletomorrow.typepad.com/charlottesville_tomorrow_/2009/10/council-reviews-details-of-meadowcreek-parkway-interchange-design-.html

Council can stop this.  All they have to do is tell the truth and federal law will do the rest.

IMHO, these people need therapy. We get it. The Park is sacred ground. Which is why its highest and best use is as a glorified putt putt for a half dozen nut jobs with clubs. Oh, except for the softball fields.

No doubt scarce resources should be stewarded wisely, and nobody really loves highways—except highway engineers and highway contractors. No doubt the extended (to put it mildly) public discussion and debate has reformed the impact of the project, its location, aesthetics, etc., and mitigated countless previous complaints. No doubt that a minority will fight this to the bitter end—I’ll take them at their word. But, they no longer deserve to be taken seriously.