New date selected for Gentry Lane School Street community meeting

Last month Charlottesville Area Transit announced the immediate rerouting of the #9 service away from the Greenbrier neighborhood in part to stop traveling on Gentry Lane as part of a street configuration that had not yet been made public.

Gentry Lane is home to what used to be known as Walker Upper Elementary School but is now called the Charlottesville Early Learning Center and there are plans

CAT hit pause the change a day later.

“Charlottesville City Schools (CCS) has confirmed that transit access will remain available when the school entrances at the Charlottesville Early Learning Center close to through traffic,” reads the release. “As a result, CAT will continue operating Route 9 along its existing alignment.”

Later that evening, the city put out an information release at 8:02 p.m. announcing the changes that would be made to Genty Lane

“Starting at the end of October, the school‑owned section of Gentry Lane will become a ‘School Street,’ a street where people walking, biking, and rolling are prioritized and motor‑vehicle through‑traffic is limited,” reads a Connect Charlottesville page that has since been deleted.

An open house was to have been held on October 26 but was suddenly canceled. While the website has yet been turned back on, City Council Natalie Oschrin said this event will now take place on November 16.

“So from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Early Learning Center, there’s going to be a meeting about changing the layout and format of that street that all are welcome to attend,” Oschrin said.

As for Route 9, CAT in their message of postponement stated that change could be made as early as December. A reason to make the change is to accommodate the future construction of a new Dairy Road bridge. That project has not yet gone out to bid.

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