Funds for other road projects questioned

Funding for the Western Bypass of U.S. 29 may have been approved by the Metropolitan Planning Organization, but resistance to the road is far from gone.

Opponents want a stronger commitment from the state to fund other key projects in the area.

According to Albemarle County Supervisors Ann H. Mallek and Dennis S. Rooker, a letter sent July 27 by state Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton does not go far enough to guarantee funds for local projects as part of Connaughton’s promise to secure state money for the 6.2-mile bypass itself.

Mallek said she is worried that without concrete guarantees of funding for the area’s other projects, the funding may never materialize.

“We’ve given away the marbles without asking for anything in return, and that makes me very nervous,” she said. “My encouragement to citizens is to show up [today] and start a demand that Albemarle County government and elected officials work together and enact the changes that we want.”

The Board of Supervisors meets at 9 a.m. today in Lane Auditorium at the County Office Building on McIntire Road. The bypass isn’t mentioned on the agenda, but Mallek hopes residents opposed to the road will show up to voice their concerns during the public comment section.

Connaughton’s letter promises $197 million in state money for the bypass and another $32.5 million to widen parts of U.S. 29 in the county. But local officials have said they want assurance of millions more in state money for Hillsdale Drive Extended in the city, a widening of the U.S. 29/250 Bypass ramp at Best Buy in the city, an extension of Berkmar Drive in the county and the replacement of the city’s Belmont Bridge. Connaughton’s letter says he will recommend funding, but uses no concrete language.

Connaughton said he would recommend allocating $10 million to the city to fund completion of Hillsdale Drive Extended, a project estimated to cost more than $30 million when completed. The letter goes on to promise a funding recommendation of $8.4 million for the Belmont Bridge replacement. The total cost of the bridge replacement is estimated at $14.5 million. Connaughton said he would recommend that the U.S. 29/250 ramp be moved from the city’s direction to a Virginia Department of Transportation-managed project.

Rooker said the letter only promises to fund a conceptual design for an extension of Berkmar Drive. Rooker said funding for that project was among a host of conditions the county’s MPO representatives should have seen met before approving the project.

Rooker and Mallek have been on the losing end of votes by county supervisors on the Western Bypass. The remaining supervisors, Rodney S. Thomas, Lindsay G. Dorrier Jr., Duane Snow and Kenneth C. Boyd revived the bypass June 8.

“The language that he put in his letter, regarding Berkmar Extended, that Mr. Thomas and Mr. Snow said they were satisfied with, will ensure that the road never gets built,” Rooker said Monday.

“The language that he put in the letter was that he will allow for a conceptual design to be done sometime in the future to have Berkmar connected to the bypass.”

Thomas, who represents the Rio District, said he trusts Connaughton to uphold his end of the bargain, and accused Rooker of holding up the Berkmar extension in the past.

“I would say that Mr. Rooker has done the same thing. Put it off, put it off, put it off until it hasn’t happened,” Thomas said Tuesday. “I trust Secretary Connaughton. When he says that he’ll fund [area projects], I trust that he will.”

Because Berkmar Drive is a secondary road, Rooker said the money to take an extension beyond the conceptual design stage is unlikely to materialize. Beyond questions about which conditions were met, Rooker said, the environmental impact of the road needs to be reevaluated.

“I think there will be an environmental assessment ... of the road,” Rooker said. “The new study will basically update the information about pollution that’s currently there.”

Mallek said the project was approved too quickly by the MPO, before the contents of Connaughton’s letter could sink in with local officials. Mallek said there wasn’t enough time for officials and the public to read and understand the letter, which was released shortly before the MPO meeting.

“The actions last evening, against the recommendations of staff to postpone the vote on the change to the [Transportation Improvement Program] until proper language could be prepared, were grievously destructive to our community process and well being. The county reps turned their backs on their city colleagues, who were right in demanding time to think over a contract as huge and consequential as this one,” Mallek said in a blog post dated July 28.

“The MPO majority lost a chance to handle the process correctly and help citizens feel that transparency and good government prevailed, despite the decision made. There is certainly no claim to that now. The VDOT rep himself said he was surprised at the content of the letter, having been part of the discussion at the [Commonwealth Transportation Board] where other members understood the need to improve conditions on the 29 core as well,” Mallek said on her blog.

Morgan Butler, of the Charlottesville-based Southern Environmental Law Center, said his organization will keep track of the project to make sure the proper environmental studies get done. Specifically, Butler said, the SELC will be watching to make sure the project complies with the National Environmental Policy Act.

“[NEPA] was really designed with the idea of making sure destructive projects like this are prevented when there are better alternatives available,” Butler said. “Going forward, we’re going to make sure the state complies with NEPA in the construction of the project.”