While I was busy fussing about the Hoo d’Etat, the Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded a $135M contract to build the Western Bypass, Sean Tubbs writes for Charlottesville Tomorrow. The design-build contract went to a company called Skanska/Branch Highways. Simultaneous to the award of the contract was the unveiling of the company’s proposed plan, a 300 page behemoth that folks are still working their way through, to figure out what, exactly, is being built.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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My wife speculated that the whole UVA debacle was orchestrated by the governor so that the bypass issues could slip by like a ship in the night……Hmmmmmm……
I do wonder why no one has been considering that this same BoV has very likely played some role in the last minute midnight bypass resurrection. The only actual function the bypass will have will be to connect the University to its Research Park.
The level that this UVa mess has risen to… conspiracy theories included… is pretty comical. That being said, I noticed a comment on CT mentioning how much of an eyesore the southern terminus, with its “flyover,” looks to be. I didn’t see any flyover in the plans, and I found it almost ironic that northbound travelers would have to hit a stoplight before getting on the bypass. NC utilized a similar process in the design of the outer section of I-485. One net result was the use of an innovative interchange that utilized more bridges, but with minimal stacking, saving money and avoiding a spaghetti-type series of flyovers. Interestingly, the project is an eight lane highway with six interchanges and its construction costs are almost the same as this bypass. I would have thought that Skanska could have come up with something more creative than their proposed southern terminus. A comment on CT also mentioned a similarity to the Lynchburg Expressway- but its design is much less useful than the 60 year old expressway- probably due more to the 40 years of debate than to an inability to design intermediate interchanges.
No one has said it yet so let me just say I love your turn of the phrase: Hoo d’Etat.
(Plus, I think the postings here the past few weeks have been the best of the lot. Very thoughtful.)