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Category Archives: Mobility

Albemarle Supervisors direct staff to participate in TJPDC-led Safe Streets grant application

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

Transportation staff at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District are putting the final touches on an application for federal funding from a new grant program created as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden earlier this year.

The Safe Streets and Roads For All program can be used to develop a safety action plan, plan for projects listed in the plan, or actually build projects listed in the plan. There’s a deadline of September 15 for eligible groups to apply.

Last week, Supervisor Ned Gallaway asked why Albemarle is not making its own application or participating with other localities.

“The TJPDC is putting a regional effort forward but it’s not the only way to participate,” Gallaway said. “You can participate as a county.”

MPO supports request to amend Hydraulic Road / U.S. 29 projects

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The final project in what’s known as Route29 Solutions is making its way through the last steps of the planning process. Last week, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board got an update on the status for a future project that includes five separate components at the intersection of U.S. 29 and Hydraulic Road.

“We’ve kind of gotten to a situation right now where we’re over budget based on updated estimates and some of the things that we’ve looked at it,” said Sean Nelson, the administrator of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Culpeper District.

Ridership increases on Virginia-funded Amtrak trains

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

In July, more than 110,000 passenger rides were taken on Amtrak trains whose cost is partially covered through the Commonwealth of Virginia. Amtrak released figures for July this week and that month was the first with two new roundtrip services including an additional train between Roanoke and D.C. that serves Charlottesville.

Around 27,375 riders took the Roanoke route in July, up 27 percent from 21,654 in June. The year-to-year increase 72.1 percent for a service that also stops in Alexandria, Burke Center, Manassas, Culpeper, and Lynchburg. An expansion to Christiansburg is planned for the next few years.

The July 2022 numbers were up 31.4 percent over the last summer before the pandemic. A roundtrip service to Newport News was suspended for a portion of the shutdown, but has been resumed.

“Every route saw an increase in ridership with Newport News topping the list,” reads a press release from Amtrak.

Passenger rail in Virginia

Board of Architectural Review denies grates for Mall fountains

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The city of Charlottesville has begun moving ahead with changes to the city’s Downtown Mall, which will turn 50 in the year 2026. Last week, the Board of Architectural Review weighed in on one change intended to make parts of it a little safer.

“This is a request from the city of Charlottesville to install metal grates at the three small fountains located on the Downtown Mall,” said Jeff Werner, the city’s historic preservation planner. “The situation we have is that because of issues related to pedestrian safety and ADA accessibility concern, the decision was made to install grates.”

Charlottesville Area Transit to operate on-demand demonstration project in Albemarle

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation has awarded a $1.552 million grant to Charlottesville Area Transit to operate a demonstration project for microtransit service in Albemarle County. That includes a match of $388,000 in local funds. The service could take up to a year to get underway, according to Lucinda Shannon, a transportation planner with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.

Similar projects have been implemented at various stages across the nation. The city of Wilson, North Carolina with a population of around 50,000 people replaced its fixed route service with on-demand shuttles in September 2020.

Federal funds awarded to help plan for Three Notched Trail

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The effort to link the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Afton to Charlottesville with a continuous shared-use path has received a major boost from the federal government. A $2 million grant authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be awarded to Albemarle County for the Three Notched Trail Shared Use Path Plan.

“A ‘shared use’ path is typically a 10’ wide paved trail that is physically separated from the motor vehicle travel way and allows bi-directional pedestrian and bicycle traffic,” reads a website for the project. “Once built, the TNT will provide local residents and visitors with car-free transportation and recreational opportunities.”

Implementation continues for plans to make Charlottesville walk zones safer

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

There are eight days left until classes begin for pupils in Charlottesville City Schools, and more will be walking to school due to a severe lack of people currently employed to drive school buses.

“Due to the ongoing bus driver shortage, we have expanded our ‘walk zones’ to 0.75 miles for the elementary schools, and 1.25 miles for Walker, Buford, and [Charlottesville High School],” reads an email sent to interested parties. “This change brings our walk zones closer to regional and national norms.”

Albemarle Supervisors endorse Rio Road Corridor Plan

Posted on August 5, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors has officially endorsed a plan that offers guidance for how future intersection improvements on Rio Road may look in the future.

“This is a planning level document that establishes a vision for improvements along the corridor with sufficient analysis of the conceptual design to understand whether the proposed concepts can address future and existing conditions and can meet [Virginia Department of Transportation] and other relevant engineering standards,” said David Benish, development process manager for Albemarle County.

Efforts made to crack down on distracted drivers on U.S. 29

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Sean Tubbs Leave a comment

Vehicular crashes are up on Virginia roads this year and late last month area law enforcement agencies teamed up on to enforce speeding and distracted driving laws on U.S. 29. On July 21, Albemarle County Police, Charlottesville Police, and the University of Virginia police were out in force from the Greene County border to the Nelson County line.

“We usually see at least 700,000 vehicles daily on that stretch of roadway,” said Albemarle Master Police Officer Kate Kane. “Consequently it adds up to a lot of crashes unfortunately.”

Council briefed on potential usage of ARPA funds

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

Charlottesville has now received all of the $19.6 million in funding it will receive from the federal government as part of the American Rescue Plan Act fund. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers gave Council an update at their meeting on July 18.

“It’s been a big help for local government in terms of recovery from the impact of the pandemic,” Rogers said.

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