Residents skeptical of U.S. 29 study as recommendations lack funding
A lack of transportation funding has left some local residents puzzled about how certain recommendations from a U.S. 29 study would be implemented.
“I’m not expecting a whole lot because this isn’t the first time we’ve done this,” said Kenneth C. Boyd, a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.
Residents gathered at Albemarle County’s Fifth Street Extended Office Building on Monday to discuss a $1.5 million study being done on the road. The study, which is being completed by the Virginia Department of Transpor-tation and is meant to develop the road’s blueprint and guide future transportation improvements, is examining 219 miles of U.S. 29 from Danville on the North Carolina border to Gainesville near Interstate 66.
Congress has designated the heavily traveled U.S. 29 as a national highway system route. The title is the designation below an interstate.
Studies on the thoroughfare have been done in the past, but the latest will be the first to look at its entire length. And while there is no state funding to complete new projects, “this is a good time to do the planning,” said Charles Rasnick, who works for VDOT and is the study’s project manager.
Joseph Springer of Parsons Trans-portation Group, which is conducting the study, added, “You can do a lot without doing anything to the road.”
The Commonwealth Transportation Board commissioned the study last year, but transportation funding has changed drastically since. Committee member John J. “Butch” Davies, who represents the Culpeper District, said there is no money available for new construction projects for the next five years of VDOT’s Six-Year Improvement Program. There are, however, plenty of projects waiting for economic stimulus funds from the federal government.
“There are projects all over this state that are shovel-ready,” Davies said. Davies suspected that economic stimulus funds designed for transportation would mostly be directed to bridge repairs and infrastructure maintenance across the state.
VDOT is traveling to seven other locations along U.S. 29 — including Danville, Lynchburg and Culpeper — to garner feedback about the study. The Monday meeting was the fourth held in the state.
Springer said a theme he has continually heard from cities further south is the desire to build a $300 million bypass around Charlottesville to alleviate traffic. The so-called Western Bypass has ignited controversy between area officials and those in Lynchburg and Danville, who were calling for the ouster of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization for failing to advance the bypass plans.
Traffic through Charlottesville, Springer said, “is issue number one.”
Henry Weinschenk, who owns Express Car Wash on Hydraulic Road, said he believes the Western Bypass is a good solution to relieving congestion on U.S. 29. Traffic, he said, is a regional problem.
“Somebody’s got to illustrate properly what the solutions are,” he said.
But Rasnick said VDOT does not anticipate building the bypass, which was envisioned as going around Charlottesville’s heavily traveled portion of the route. Critics say the bypass is too expensive for a road they believe would have little effect on traffic.
In addition to examining previously collected travel information, the study will collect new land-use data, plus information on why the corridor is important to local residents and goals for future safe transportation.
Access to the road will also be a part of the study’s recommendations, in order to balance the interests of local residents versus through travelers.
Recommendations will be presented to the CTB in November.
Reader Reactions
The way it was presented, VDOT only serves an advisory role in decisions affecting US29 (I think this is crazy, but that’s how it is). It seems the counties are free to congest the highway as much as they want, and VDOT’s role is 1) give approval as long as line-of-sight requrements are met, and 2) making sure it remains safe, which basically means adding lights as needed. Nowhere in there is VDOT ever called on to plan. That is left to the counties, which have demonstrated a complete lack of interest or ability. Look at the Forest Lakes South entrance, or the new Lowes access at Ruckersville, or anything near Airport Road.
The least common denominator mentality of the traffic light programming just makes it worse, but I’m not yet sure whether that responsibility lies with VDOT.
Anyway, the interesting part for me was finding out how little authority VDOT claims over the access rights management. According to the VDOT managers at the meeting, these decisions are guided by the counties’ strategic plans.
No wonder folks are skeptical. Based on past penchants for “deadly design” VDOT has little credibility with users of their products. Old and new “dips of death” and their associated crossovers in Albemarle and Greene counties are deadly proof. You can’t convince me that there is not enough money to regrade these road hazards to eliminate the “dips” when there is obviously enough money to add more distracting sign “pollution”, rumble strips and constant police presence
Also, it shouldn’t be very expensive to close all crossovers that do not have deceleration lanes. With traffic lights seemingly every half mile along 29, drivers should have no problem going to the “next” light to make their crossover.
How fuel-wasteful is it to stop at a traffic light and wait for traffic to cross that never does! A little programming please.
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