Federal grant programs are not the only way transportation projects are funded. Anyone driving on U.S. 29 this week can see projects underway such as the conversion of a traffic signal at Hydraulic Road and Hillsdale Drive with a roundabout. There’s a detour in place through mid-August.
But what else is happening and what else is planned? To assist the public, Albemarle County has recently announced the creation of a new portal to get answers and information.
“The Transportation Project Dashboard shows recently completed, under construction, and in design transportation as of 05/01/2024,” reads the website for the new service which is to be updated quarterly.
Visitors to this portal can look up projects on a map or on lists of either “points” or “segments.” The current project at Hydraulic is listed as under construction and lists the full scope as:
“Removing left turns from Hydraulic onto US 29; construction of a roundabout at Hillsdale/Hydraulic, Pedestrian Bridge over US 29.”
There’s also a link to the project documents which takes you to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s website. One item not listed in Albemarle’s dashboard is the cost of projects, but intrepid information seekers can look that up on VDOT’s Six Year Improvement Plan page.
Segments are projects that will happen over a linear span. Several are in design such as the extension of Berkmar Drive to Airport Road, sidewalks on the southern side of Commonwealth Drive, and bike lanes and sidewalks on Old Lynchburg Road from Timberland to Azalea Park.
The portal does not include projects for which the county or other entities have not been awarded funding through Smart Scale or some other funding mechanism. For instance, the Charlottesville-
The transportation dashboard now accompanies a similar one for residential and commercial construction projects. The Development Dashboard was last updated on July 1, 2024.

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