Officials nix Sunset interchange

By Seth Rosen

Published: May 5, 2008

Building a new interchange on Interstate 64 at Sunset Avenue would be prohibitively expensive and local officials have given up on the idea.
Charlottesville, Albemarle and University of Virginia officials had all hoped that adding the interchange between Fifth Street and U.S. 29 would be a cost-effective way to better the flow of traffic south of the city.
Instead, officials will continue pursuing a connector road between Sunset and Fontaine Avenue — a project with an uncertain future because of a decrease in state funding for transportation.
New development has increased the amount of traffic south of I-64 in recent years, and many fear the problem will only be exacerbated once projects such as the 3,100-unit Biscuit Run come online.
“Currently, and obviously in the future, there’s a real traffic issue in that area,” Councilor Julian Taliaferro said. “Once all the development out there happens, it will only get worse.”
An easy way to expediently get cars from that area to UVa, including to the school’s Fontaine Research Park, would be to build an interchange at Sunset Avenue, university officials believed.
However, an outside consultant determined that the project would likely cost between $50 million and $100 million, a price tag that effectively killed the idea. Even if there were a pot of money available, the consultant concluded, officials would have difficulty convincing the Federal Highway Administration that the interchange was needed.
“We thought it would be a cheaper option that would be less disruptive and was something that could be achieved. But it is not a feasible approach right now,” said Leonard W. Sandridge, UVa’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
With the interchange alternative no longer on the table, officials are turning their attention back to the connector road, a project that provokes many questions but few answers.
The road will cost at least $13 million, but everyone agrees that the final number will be much higher because of the need to build bridges over railroad tracks and waterways. And with the Virginia Department of Transportation cutting funding statewide for secondary roads, it’s not clear where the money will come from.
“We are in a tough funding situation and we are going to have to get creative,” said Dennis S. Rooker, a member of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors.
The Biscuit Run developer has pledged $1.2 million for the road, and UVa and the owners of the nearby Granger property are expected to provide money in return for rezonings from the Board of Supervisors. But those contributions will not be enough to pay for the costly bridge.
“The gap is, who pays for the bridge?” city Mayor Dave Norris said. “That’s the big nut that needs to be cracked.”
John J. “Butch” Davies III, the area’s representative on the Commonwealth Transportation Board, is not optimistic that money will be found in the near future.
“I think it is something that is needed. I just don’t know where the money comes from to do it,” he said.