New Crozet road raises questions

Architects of the future downtown Crozet envision strips of vibrant businesses easily reached by drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists in a network of interconnected streets.

A key piece of the puzzle was recently laid, a roadway so young it’s unclear whether its name — Library Avenue — will stick.

Even less clear is the construction timeline for a proposed library that Library Avenue will ultimately lead to. And officials remain uncertain when the network of interconnecting streets will be completed.

“I look at this with both praise and disappointment at the same time. I’m happy it’s being done, because that says progress is being made in meeting the plans that we put in the Master Plan,” said Bill Schrader, with the Crozet Community Advisory Council. “The disappointing part is Library Avenue will have a parking lot but we won’t have a library.”

A parking lot with a few dozen spaces is planned for the site of the proposed new Crozet library and could be completed in as little as a few months — a move Crozet leaders believe could help support nearby businesses.

The 380-foot-long Library Avenue is attached to Crozet Avenue and joins with a road informally called “the alley,” behind The Square shopping center in downtown Crozet.

“We definitely need more connectivity,” said Michael Marshall, chairman of the Crozet Community Advisory Council. “There’s a lot of development capacity on the east side of Crozet, and we wanted those people to have a convenient way to get into downtown, because we want downtown to be the main focus of growth.”

One nearby business owner, who agreed to an interview on the condition of anonymity, said some merchants in the area see Library Avenue as “a road to nowhere, because it goes nowhere.”

To the naked eye, the new road might appear of little value, but Crozet leaders and county officials believe businesses will see the benefits once the parking lot is constructed.

“It would be ready to go when the parking lot’s ready,” Schrader said of Library Avenue, “which is going to aid downtown parking for people shopping.”

“There’s a tremendous problem right now for parking in The Square. When people are there for lunchtime in the middle of the day, it’s almost impossible to find a place to park,” Schrader said. “Once the parking lot is built, it will be a short walk down the alley … to get into The Square, so that should help businesses there.”

But construction won’t stop there.

In coming years, Library Avenue will extend to Park Ridge Court, the plans entails, and provide a connection to Three Notch’d Road. Cory Farm Road will be extended into a proposed Eastern Avenue, under the Master Plan, ultimately running from Rockfish Gap Turnpike to Three Notch’d Road.

The new roadways are part of a network of interconnected streets to be built in and nearby downtown Crozet.

“Ultimately, it’s designed to help provide better and easier access to downtown to revitalize that area and help improve the economic vitality,” said Elaine Echols, senior planner with Albemarle County.

Much of the construction depends on developers who will be expected to pick up the tab for roadwork in exchange for zoning changes that will allow business development in the area.

That reliance on developers makes it difficult to predict when the vast transportation network will be finished.

“These are the type of projects that generally get built piece by piece as the development occurs, because we don’t really have the money to go in and do all of these infrastructure projects,” Echols said. “We will see it in our lifetimes, and I think we’ll see it sooner rather than later in our lifetimes.”

It also remains unclear how much money the county will have to fork over.

A big question that looms over Crozet is when will a new library be built, which officials envision to sit in the heart of downtown.

The county had initially projected that a new, 18,300-square-foot library off Crozet Avenue downtown would cost about $9.8 million, an estimate that is now outdated and seemingly far too high. Some officials have more recently estimated that the cost might be closer to $6 million if the construction is done sooner rather than later.

The existing library is only 1,700 square feet. Community leaders say library-goers have outgrown the building.

Top county officials say they are uncertain when the new library will be built. Even if the economy turns for the better in coming years, the library will have to compete with other county infrastructure projects that have been postponed.