Thinking outside the car: Forum looks at alternatives

From the roughly 14-mile Northtown Trail proposal to the success of Amtrak’s extended passenger rail service, local transportation-focused groups helped some Charlottesville-area residents spend their Sunday thinking outside of the car.

The Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation organized Sunday’s event at CitySpace, where more than 100 people walked between poster presentations outlining the realities and dreams of getting around. Len Schoppa, president of the alliance’s board of directors, said the event was a way to get the community and ACCT’s various programs together in one place.

Over at the Northtown Trail booth, Sarah Eissler told people about the proposed connection between Lewis and Clark Drive near the University of Virginia Research Park and the heart of downtown Charlottesville. Eissler, a transportation planner with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, said the trail will open up new ways for people to travel to work.

“We’re trying to access a community of homeowners who have to drive to work,” Eissler said.

The plan uses some existing trails, such as Schenks Greenway near the McIntire Road Recycling Center, and some future paths, such as on the planned Berkmar Drive Extended. However, Eissler said the Berkmar Drive project won’t begin until 2018 and the goal for the proposed path in the Belvedere subdivision is five years.

Eissler said 98 percent of people living in the Fashion Square mall area drive to work. Kathy Welch, who lives in that area, said she often drives to get around but can catch a bus to get to the Downtown Mall and other areas.

Welch said she was happy to see that the event was well attended.

“I think this is really a pent-up desire,” Welch said.

To travel to Rhode Island to see her son, Welch said, she has taken the Amtrak train from the Charlottesville station. She said the ride was a good experience.

That’s what Meredith Richards likes to hear. Richards is the chairwoman of CvilleRail, a nonprofit group that promotes passenger rail service along the U.S. 29 corridor. A year ago, Amtrak added new passenger rail service from Lynchburg to Washington, with a stop in Charlottesville, as part of a three-year pilot program. Richards said 116,382 passengers rode the line in its first 11 months, far more than the 51,000 passenger goal.

Another group is hoping to make travel within Charlottesville city limits more attainable and fun. CicloVILLE proponent Vince Caristo said he is trying to spread the concept of Ciclovía — a temporary, yet regular, street closing to allow bicycles and pedestrians to take over.

Caristo proposes shutting down West Main Street because it’s flat and central to the city, or perhaps Preston Avenue from Washington Park to McIntire Road. He said Ciclovía events in Colombia have turned into space for dance classes and impromptu events.

“We want to show them that you can use streets in a new way,” Caristo said.

Shutting down the street for bicyclists appealed to city resident Jenny Nowlen, who doesn’t ride her bicycle to get around because she thinks the roads are too dangerous.

“It’s something to get people out of their cars,” Nowlen said. “I’d love to see if it’s possible not to use my car all of the time.”

Welch needed her car on Sunday. She said that she couldn’t have taken a Charlottesville Area Transit bus to Sunday’s 5 p.m. transportation event because the last bus would depart for her home station at 5:15 p.m.