We are in an era now where the City of Charlottesville’s Public Works Department has begun filling in some of the many gaps where there aren’t sidewalks. Recently completed sections include a portion of East High Street, a section of Elliott Avenue and in the Fifeville neighborhood a ten-foot stretch of asphalt that completes a pathway to Forest Hills Park.
With several projects under the city’s belt, both Public Works and the Department of Neighborhood Development Services are working to finalize a priority list.
“City staff… has drawn from previous plans and studies, including the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, the Streets That Work Design Guidelines, and several small area plans completed since 2015,” reads a city website to gather feedback on the work so far.
The city has long struggled to build sidewalks or implement large transportation projects despite a lot of planning.
Charlottesville City Council adopted the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan on September 8, 2015 followed a year later by the Street That Work Plan. That was an era when it seemed there was an endless appetite to hire consultants to do planning, but not a lot of construction. For example, a company called the Toole Design Group got paid $190,000 for their work on both projects. The same firm would go on to be paid at least $199,987 to create a Standards and Design Manual.
After the summer of 2017, the city went through a string of city managers and different City Councilors and city personnel, and institutional knowledge was lost. Sam Sanders arrived as Deputy City Manager in July 2021 and was assigned the task of restructuring how transportation projects are managed. Using a grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation, the city’s existing sidewalk priorities were reviewed to take connectivity, safety, suitability, and demand.
Another factor is equity.
“The provision of sidewalks in Charlottesville has not always been done in an equitable manner,” reads the website. “Like many other investments in our community, there is an alignment between areas where infrastructure investments like sidewalks are needed and areas where populations of non-white, low-income, youth, elderly, disabled, or having limited English proficiency live.”
The city is seeking comment on April 30 on priorities. The information is available in the form of an interactive map as well as an Excel spreadsheet. People are asked to provide their comments.
In addition to building some stretches of sidewalk, city transportation planners also provided an update last year on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. (take a look)
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