Monthly Archive for June, 2008

By Glynnis Ritchie. (CC)

With gas above $4 a gallon, and with no reason to expect a substantial drop any time soon, suddenly it’s not just a handful of pedestrian-advocate whackos like me arguing that we’ve got to make our city usable to folks who aren’t in cars. “Daily Progress Correspondent” (?) Sharon Fitzgerald writes about how dangerous it is to move around town on foot, especially in a dozen key locations around town. VDOT, the county, and ACCT have come up with that list of spots badly in need of improvements, and that includes areas along Rio and Hydraulic, Commonwealth Drive, South Pantops Drive, and the entirety of route 29, among others. There have been 57 car/pedestrian accidents in Albemarle in the past couple of years, with two deaths.

If you doubt that the city (especially the urban ring) is badly planned for pedestrians, recall what’s gone through your mind when you see somebody walking along 29N or, worse yet, trying to cross it: Is her car broken down? Is she OK? Is it safe for him to be pushing that stroller here? Between dangerously curved intersections and shopping centers surrounded by a moat of blacktop, we’ve got an enormous amount of infrastructure that’s just not compatible with the increasing cost of fuel.

Whole Foods is providing specifics on their planned move to Hydraulic Road, Seth Rosen writes for the Daily Progress, and it sounds like it’ll really shake up that corridor. Their new location, next to Kmart, is slated to include a three story parking garage, and will necessitate moving the traffic light on Hydraulic back from 29, closer to the bypass. Whole Foods says that the 66,000 square foot building “could be the chain’s most environmentally friendly grocery on the Eastern Seaboard and would feature a large community space for meetings and farmers markets.” Whole Foods has historically been terrible about selling local produce, and they may be taking this opportunity to improve their image.

Anybody who has cause to drive on Hydraulic during rush hour knows what a mess that spot can be — along with Emmett south of Barracks, it’s one of the most backed-up spots in town every day. So while change to that area sounds good, it sure would be unpleasant if it made things worse. The Hillsdale Connector is planned to run along the edge of Whole Foods’ property, which could make things better, but there’s no reason to expect that to exist for a decade.