Ever since the demise of the Western Bypass in Albemarle, the Virginia Department of Transportation has developed a rhythm of completing roadway projects in the county beginning with a bundle of projects known as Route 29 Solutions.
Construction is currently underway on conversion of several intersections into roundabouts thanks to a series of successful applications to VDOT’s Smart Scale process. The acting engineer for VDOT’s Charlottesville residency appeared before the Board of Supervisors on October 7 with an update on projects in the works.
The first update was an acknowledgment of a delay for the 5th Street Trail and Hubs projects which had been scheduled to go out for construction bids in May.
“5th Street Trail and Hubs, our ad date slipped a little bit,” said Greg Cooley. “We’re, we’re, we’ve got a pretty strong date, October 13th, to put that one out to ad.”
The project will see construction of a ten-foot wide shared use path from Wegmans Way to 5th Street as well as reconstruction of a hiking trail on the west side of Biscuit Run into a shared-use path that will connect 5th Street to the 5th Street Station shopping center. (learn more)
Another shared-use path is in the works for U.S. 29 between Carrsbrook Drive and Seminole Lane. The firm S.L. Williamson has been contracted to do the work which was funded in the fourth Smart Scale round. (learn more)
Preliminary engineering is underway for the future connector road between Berkmar Drive to Airport Road, intersection improvements at Virginia 20 and U.S. 250 on Pantops, and improvements to U.S. 250 between Rolkin Road and Peter Jefferson Parkway.
The public still has a chance to weigh in on another project in preliminary engineering. VDOT and the City of Charlottesville will hold a design public hearing from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on October 22 at Monticello High School for “Avon Street Multimodal Improvements.”
“The project proposes construction of a shared use path along the east side of Avon Street between Avon Court and Druid Avenue, including a new pedestrian bridge over Moores Creek, upgrades to existing bus stops, and new crosswalks at key locations,” reads an email sent out this week by transportation planning staff at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.
One of the major innovations in the Route29 Solutions project was to bundle several projects into one to attract more bidders. One such bundle has already seen completion of roundabouts at Virginia 240 / U.S. 250 east of Crozet. Now construction is underway at 5th Street / Old Lynchburg Road, John Warner Parkway / Rio Road, and Virginia 53 and 20 near Piedmont Virginia Community College.
The latest bundle includes conversion of District Avenue and Hydraulic Road into a roundabout, changes to the U.S. 29 / Fontaine Avenue interchange, and what used to be called the Fontaine Avenue Streetscape but is now the Fontaine Avenue Shared Use Path. VDOT took over the project after the City of Charlottesville’s delivery had stalled.
“Fontaine, we are steadily working on that one too,” Cooley said. “We’re mostly working on right-of-way and getting plans approved and hoping you guys will see some construction going in the next year or so.”
More from this briefing in a future story.
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