Smart Scale | Information Charlottesville

Category Archives: Smart Scale

UVA-commissioned study finds flaws in funded improvements to US 29/250 interchange with Fontaine Avenue

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

In late 2019, the Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors agreed to end a public body known as the Planning and Coordination Council that met openly with University of Virginia officials to discuss the infrastructure needed for a growing community.

This was replaced with the closed-door Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee which meets every month. In its first two meetings of this year, the group has talked privately about some of the potential transportation solutions in areas where the University of Virginia has plans to significantly increase its activities.

Albemarle Supervisors briefed on transportation planning including Old Ivy pipeline study

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

Some in this growing community might say that there’s a need for new road connections or improvements to the existing ones. Transportation planning is one of my favorite topics to cover, and please ask questions in the comments. There’s a learning curve.

At their meeting on April 5, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors got an update on several projects.

Work continues at the Virginia Department of Transportation to finalize a list of new transportation projects that will be funded through the Smart Scale process that’s currently in its fifth round.

Three Albemarle projects move forward in Smart Scale process; One from Nelson advances

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Sean Tubbs One comment

Planners across the Commonwealth got new information Tuesday on whaat projects are likely to receive funding through the process the Virginia Department of Transportation uses and which ones will need to wait another two years.

The fifth Smart Scale round is the largest one since the program began in 2016 with $1.53 billion in projects recommended for funding.

“We had 413 applications this round and we screened and validated and had 394 eligible applications to be scored this round,” said Brooke Jackson, VDOT’s program manager for Smart Scale. “We are recommending in the staff recommending scenario that 152 applications get funded.” (view the presentation)

Albemarle Supervisors to get updates on Smart Scale projects, other transportation initiatives

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Sean Tubbs One comment

One of the items on the agenda for the January 11, 2023 meeting of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors is a quarterly update on transportation projects. This will be from the the county’s transportation planner, Jessica Hersh-Ballering. The major piece of information coming up later this month will be the scoring of Smart Scale submissions. As a reminder, here’s what Albemarle submitted:

New roundabout to open at U.S. 250 / Route 151

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

A new traffic pattern will begin tomorrow at the intersection of U.S. 250 and Route 151 in Nelson County. The Virginia Department of Transportation expects that vehicles will be routed through a new roundabout beginning at 9 a.m.

“Flaggers will control traffic through the intersection while the traffic signals at the intersection are removed and pavement striping is completed,” reads a VDOT press release. “Drivers should anticipate brief delays during traffic stoppages and congestion in the vicinity of the project. The traffic switch will be complete, and the flagging operation removed by 3 p.m., at which time traffic will use the roundabout for all movements through the intersection.”

CTB briefed on Smart Scale funding as Round 5 approaches

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Sean Tubbs One comment

In three months, the Virginia Department of Transportation will release the results from the fifth round of Smart Scale, the major avenue through which projects related to roads and sidewalks are funded.

“We are in Smart Scale season,” said John Lawson, Virginia’s deputy transportation secretary. “Everybody will be wondering how much money will be available for this round and for many reasons it is to be determined.”

Smart Scale

Commonwealth Transportation Board briefed on why construction estimates are increasing

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

Charlottesville Community Engagement is a newsletter and podcast that tries to keep up with how much it costs to build things, a major factor in the provision of infrastructure. The Virginia Department of Transportation also keeps an eye on changing trends as part of an effort to deliver services more efficiently. This comes out of a 2020 study by the firm of Ernst and Young who took a lot at the methodology VDOT uses to estimate the cost of projects and the way it bids them.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board got a briefing at their meeting on Tuesday, October 25.

“Ernst and Young made several recommendations to the Department and one of those recommendations was to constantly keep up with the economic items including inflation and commodities in our bidding process throughout the year, which is historically something VDOT has not done,” said Bart Thrasher, VDOT’s chief engineer.

CTB briefed on cancellation of Charlottesville Smart Scale projects

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Sean Tubbs 2 comments

The Virginia Department of Transportation has followed through on a plan to help the city of Charlottesville get better about actually building projects for which it has been funded. On Tuesday, officials briefed the Commonwealth Transportation Board on the cancellation of three projects for which the city received funding from the Smart Scale process in the past few years.

“I’m presenting to you a proposal to cancel three Smart Scale projects,” said Kim Pryor, VDOT’s Director of Infrastructure Investment. “Preston Avenue and Grady Avenue, West Main Street Phase 2 and West Main Street Phase 3.”

Review process continues for next round of Smart Scale candidate projects

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

Efforts are underway to secure funding to transform the character of Fifth Street and Fifth Street Extended between Ridge Street and Ambrose Commons. There are at least three projects being considered for the next round of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale process.

“Smart Scale is the process that the state uses to prioritize and fund transportation projects,” said Sandy Shackelford, the director of planning and transportation for the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.

Planning continues for projects for VDOT’s next Smart Scale cycle

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

Work continues to prepare the next round of applications for the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale funding process. Chuck Proctor is a planner with VDOT’s Culpeper District and he’s assisting Albemarle and the MPO come up with potential submissions.

“Most of them are bike-ped related, a lot of them are multimodal projects like Avon Street, 5th Street, the 29-250 bypass,” Proctor said, speaking at a technical committee of the Metropolitan Planning Organization on Tuesday.

Other projects that could be submitted include the intersection of Old Trail and Crozet Avenue, a recommendation from the ongoing North 29 corridor study, projects on Pantops, as well as various intersections of U.S. 250 east of Pantops.

« Older Entries