“Pipeline” studies continue for future projects for Barracks Road, Old Ivy Road 

How do transportation projects get selected for funding? There are many pathways for ideas to become candidates and one of them is the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Project Pipeline. 

“Project Pipeline is a performance-based planning program to identify cost-effective solutions to Virginia’s multimodal transportation needs and priorities,” reads the narrator of a VDOT overview of the program on YouTube. “Project pipeline is intended to provide a clear connection between the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s VTRANS priorities and Virginia’s project development and prioritization process. It aims to implement a statewide look at needs and formalize the connection with planning, funding, and programming transportation solutions for Virginia.”

There are two areas in the jurisdiction of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization that are currently under review through the program. One covers Barracks Road between Emmet Street and the U.S. 250 bypass. (view the website)

“We’re revising the alternatives scenarios so we can develop a public outreach survey and that should be going out early next month,” said Chuck Proctor, a planner with VDOT’s Culpeper District. 

The other is taking a look at Old Ivy Road where there are a number of future developments planned and approved. Proctor said potential alternatives are being reviewed and the stakeholder group overseeing this study should meet at some point in February with public comment soon afterward. 

“The intent is to get a viable project or projects out of these pipeline studies for the MPO and localities to consider for Smart Scale,” said Sean Nelson, the district engineer for VDOT’s Culpeper District. 

Smart Scale is one of the mechanisms through which projects are funded. Applications for the sixth round will be taken this year, and Nelson said the timing won’t be right for any projects that develop from these two pipeline studies. 

Sandy Shackelford, the director of planning and transportation at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District, said the sixth Smart Scale round will have more strict documentation requirements and that means the number of available projects is limited. Pre-applications are due on April 1. 

“We need to make sure that we have enough lead time to get the projects prepared which means we’re not going to be able to introduce projects that we haven’t done any work on,” Shackelford said. 

That eliminates consideration this year of an extension of Hillsdale Drive south to the U.S. 250 bypass. 

The projects that might be submitted for consideration by the MPO are:

• Conversion of Interstate 64’s junction with Fifth Street Extended to a diverging diamond
• Projects that result from a pipeline study of the intersection of Route 22 and Route 250 (learn more)
• Projects that result from a pipeline study of U.S. 250 between Hansen Road and Hansens Mountain Road (learn more)

The MPO Policy Board also got an update on a project funded in Round 4 of Smart Scale project at U.S. 29 and Fontaine Avenue. The primary purpose was to add capacity at the interchange to allow northbound trucks seeking to go west on I-64 to turn around and go back to make a right-hand turn. The project has drawn concern from the University of Virginia, and the goal is to find an alternative that fits within the budget. This item will come back to the Board again at their meeting in February.

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the February 2, 2024 edition of the newsletter and podcast. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.