Procurement review
Almost ten years have passed Charlottesville City Council agreed to pursue funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation for a project to reconfigure the intersection of Barracks Road and Emmet Street and construct a shared-use-path up the hill toward downtown Charlottesville.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded funds for the project in June 2017. Then and now the expectation is that Smart Scale projects be completed within six years of receipt.
That has not occurred for this project nor two other projects the city was awarded funds for in the first Smart Scale round in 2016. Charlottesville and other communities have struggled to move forward with projects and in late 2023 the CTB approved a program to work with localities found to be “deficient” in delivering projects. Charlottesville obtained that status in 2024 and remained that way as of December 2025.
Charlottesville has agreed to cancel some projects and hand one over to VDOT. The Fontaine Avenue Streetscape was one of three original Smart Scale Awards and is now part of a bundled package along with two other area projects.
In April, the City of Charlottesville finally put the Barracks / Emmet project out to bid but the two proposals received exceeded the project budget.
On Monday, the city tried again with an invitation to bid that is due on October 9, 2026.
“This project will improve the existing left turn lanes at the Barracks Road and Emmet Street intersection, add a new right turn lane on Emmet Street, widen existing medians to provide pedestrian refuge islands, and replace the existing traffic signal infrastructure at this intersection,” reads the second solicitation.
The original shared use path has been reduced in scope. It is not described as a five-foot wide sidewalk and it only goes up as high as Buckingham Road and not the original destination of Hilltop Road.
Another of the city’s original Smart Scale projects is the East High Streetscape. On January 30 the city issued an invitation for firms to bid on construction of the East High Streetscape.
“The vision for East High Street is to improve an important link of the City’s transportation network for bikes, pedestrians, buses, and cars,” reads the procurement website.
Three bids were received and all were above the $15,666,248 estimate and the bid was closed.
“Closing out due to budget constraints,” reads a notice on the page. “The project will be revised and re-advertised.”
The Emmet Streetscape project is the other original Smart Scale award and it has not yet been put out to bid. The city’s mobility website is outdated and the page for Emmet states construction will begin in the summer of 2025.
The mobility page has not been updated since November 2025. A more detailed page for contractors is also out of date.
There are other transportation projects to note as well.
On August 7, the City of Charlottesville put out a bid to replace one of the bridges that crosses the U.S. 250 bypass.
“The project consists of full replacement of the [Dairy Road] existing bridge over Route 250 Bypass, funded through the State of Good Repair (SGR) program using state and federal funds,” reads that invitation for bids.
On August 19, bids closed for a project to repair damages to a soundwall damaged last year.
“In late spring of 2025, a dump truck traveling eastbound on 250 pulled a hard 90-degree turn and collided into Soundwall ‘C’ at the on-ramp location of Barracks Road entering Route 250,” reads this request for quotations. “Significant damage was incurred to both the H-Pile (Route 250 side) front and back, and the Soundwall panels on both sides of the H-Pile.”
The contract has been awarded to W.G. Construction of Manassas, Virginia. A price is not listed in the procurement portal.
Other procurement projects:
- The City of Charlottesville recently sought bids for “purchase and delivery of three (3) DJI Matrice 4T Universal Edition Drones, including accidental damage coverage.” The bids were due August 27. Four firms submitted bids with Camrise LLC of Englewood, New Jersey, being the lowest at $48,060.78. The project scope does not indicate what they would be used for. (learn more about the RFP) (learn more about this particular brand of drone)
- Bids are due on September 8 for a project with the title YARD WASTE & RECYCLING. According to the project scope, this would be to process an estimated 118 tons of loose leaves a year, 1,169 tons of brush and yard waste a year, and 133 tons of storm debris. (learn more)
- Bids are due on August 31 for firms to provide architectural and engineering services. (learn more)
Before you go: The goal of Town Crier Productions is to increase awareness about what is happening at the local, regional, state, and federal government levels. Please share the work with others if you want people to know things. Paid subscribers cover the cost of conducting research for this article which was originally published in the August 27, 2026 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. You can either subscribe through Substack or make a charitable contribution.
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