Democrats’ sweep of local and statewide elections have them talking about undoing the Western Bypass, Courteney Stuart reports for C-Ville Weekly. A conservative majority on the Board of Supervisors, spurred on by a Republican administration in the governor’s office, held a surprise midnight vote to approve the Western Bypass in 2011. Supervisor Dennis Rooker thinks that there’s both the political will and the mechanisms to halt the plans, with incoming governor Terry McAuliffe appointing a new Secretary of Transportation and the BOS naming two members of the Metropolitan Planning Organization to replace the recently defeated Rodney Thomas and Duane Snow.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
9 Responses to “Democratic Victories May (Re-)Doom the Western Bypass”
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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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They certainly might be able to kill it. I have always thought the US 29 bypass was this best road available because it was funded and the land bought. Having watched roads take multiple decades to get approved and built, the fact this road is ready to be constructed is important. That said if they can keep the funding and get something else that would alright as well. But if they kill the road, lose the funding, and do nothing to improve traffic that would be irresponsible and petulant.
It would be the equivalent of the Republicans in Congress who want to kill Obama care and yet offer nothing substantial to replace it and address the significant problems the ACA addresses.
The funding issues are far from clear if the road is canceled and the new Governor must weigh killing this road and making his donors happy in Albemarle or going to war with those legislators in Lynchburg who he will need to get legislation passed on other subjects. McAuliffe is a deal maker and I would not be surprised if he killed the road nor if he let it be built.
I don’t know the history of these debates over the Western By-Pass very well, but it’s my understanding that if “improving traffic” is the goal, there have been proposals to do grade-separated interchanges (?) that would let traffic on 29 whiz by while the local traffic can avoid getting on 29…but local businesses on 29 opposed these plans, because it would supposedly cut into their business–decreasing the impulse stopper, I guess. My impression is that Boyd and his crew *say* “we’ve got to address traffic on 29” but what they’re not adding is “but only in a way that doesn’t discomfit people who own businesses on 29.” That’s a little disingenuous–you aren’t making a priority of solving traffic if you’re actually making a priority of the desires of people who want drivers to be able to pull on and off 29 every 30 feet or so.
One immediate change they can make is to close off as many curb cuts on Rt 29 as possible. There are plenty of places where there are multiple spots to get off/on Rt 29 for a given business. Shrink that down as much as possible and it will help the situation.
Maybe it’s just own preception but, Courtney Stuart seems to have found her fast track assimilation into the all pitching – all seeing over at Cville Weekly. I’m so terribly thrilled, Cville’s new serfs can apply their accelerated learned trade to furthering sashaying newsworthy commentary. How many Cville-reading eyes were freshly infotained but not amused by her bit of word play: “So who are the Bypass supporters? Certainly, a bunch of them live about an hour south of here.” Anybody booking odds she wanted more than buckets to barrels include addresses if she could have?
Claire, I won’t offer having that same familiarity with history as any better than you here either. Of course, that was before you went on to add »if “improving traffic” is the goal, there have been proposals to do grade-separated interchanges…..«
I don’t sense it is “businesses” as much as you attribute, more than maybe being one of the unseemly aspects of the county-city revenue sharing plan. Throw in the stubborn aversion to 21st century distinct geographic sensibly county-city boundary lines for slight measure also. One of those “grade-seperated interchanges” has to include (and not discount out) the “Best Buy Ramp” or (what the current turned out vote looks indirectly redesignating) the “Bodo’s Mixing Bowl.”
http://s1169.photobucket.com/user/thebluespade/slideshow/This%20Interchange%20in%20Charlottesville
No candidate (despite which party) kept from campaigning on the following elective priority: sound relations between county and city. Now that the elected power of influence weighs favor with the same major party managing both local governments, let’s see how long our democrat collective representatives take to push that singular envelope of sweet advantage. If the new electeds kill advancement of the 29 Western Bypass, will these same politicos own up to the potential drawback of other lost VDOT local projects (e.g. Hillsdale Connector and Berkmar Extension?) Better to ask now than before whatever marked state funding gets zapped. Better to warn everyone before the revenue enhancement for needful funding is hiked.
There must have been an unspoken gentlemens and lady’s agreement amongst city council candidates. That was likely made to avoid the taboo bypass topic altogether. It might be erroneous speculation but, It would be no fantastic surprise were Charlottesville Proper groundzero of “Charlottesville Bypass Truth Coalition’s” actual origin. The shadowy figures and green deceivers are no more than either the typical chameleons that turn other colors or those expected leopards able to change spots.
bluespade, I’d like to say that your response was helpful, but your prose style is nearly incomprehensible to me. I can’t think of the last supposedly informative thing I’ve read with more over-the-top modifiers, multiple metaphors, non-straightforward syntax, and creative verb choices.
I just want to call up, apropos of nothing here, that I’m getting an absurd amount of false positives with WordPress’s anti-spam system. More comments are being flagged as spam and held for my approval than actually posted immediately. And those are mixed in with the ~300 legitimate spam comments that arrive each day, making it a really frustrating process. I’m working on a solution to this but, in the meantime, my apologies for delays in comments appearing.
Waldo — when I ran a WP site (Nailgun) we used to get literally tens of thousands of spam comments on every post after a few weeks or so. WordPress never let any false comments through, but often marked real comments as spam if they contained a link, or if it didn’t recognize the IP…
While we’re talking tech, this post seems to stop abruptly in the middle of the second sentence. Is anyone else seeing this (i.e., is it an html formatting error), or perhaps my computer is just loaded it halfway and is now having some cache issues? (tried re-loading, clearing cache, using another browser, etc…)
Argh, yes—thanks, James.
Aw that’s all right Claire, you got around saying such as tactfully well also. Sorry I couldn’t be as grammar perfect and with brevity as you may be used to.