Save land for a new road
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By The Daily Progress
Published: October 13, 2008
Declines in funding plus growth in costs are putting the brakes on the Eastern Connector — while Charlottesville-Albemarle needs better roads, more than ever. The connector is designed to link the Pantops/Interstate 64 area with the U.S. 29 area north of Charlottesville.
With governments at all levels facing fiscal pressures, money for projects is drying up. But congestion is only expected to grow, making the need for the road increasingly important. Develop-ment also is growing in the potential path of the roadway.
The longer it is delayed, the more expensive it will be to build.
There is a way to prepare for the future and mitigate those costs. Albe-
marle already has a model in its Acqui-sition of Conservation Easements program. That program buys development rights to preserve open space.
Similarly, the county should buy development rights now within the new road’s corridor to protect the land for furture road-building. Keeping development off the land envisioned for the connector route would mean rights-of-way would be less expensive, and less contentious, to acquire in the future.
Such a solution would necessitate that the city and county to settle on a route so that development-rights purchases could be targeted effectively.
But if the county can’t see its way to building the road now, at least it can set the stage for building in the future.
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Posted by ( Ross ) on October 17, 2008 at 9:51 am
Any person who is now or was in a position of leadership in the City or County during the past 40 years should be ashamed of this type of performance. …two miles in 40 years…absolutely amazing.
Then Rooker says, “…the area will never see another project like this built.” AMAZING!!!!!!
ANALIZE ‘TIL YOU’RE PARALIZED, that’s the motto of the Board of Supervisors. This just shows the type of leadership that we have elected.
Slutzky says we cannot make a decision on the Eastern Connector until after the 2010 census. The truth is that there are many ways to retrieve the data necessary to make decisions on the construction of this highway. VDOT can retrieve that data in a week.
Slutzky postponed a decision on lighting ball fields at the park because someone objected…lights are necessary to properly utilize those fields. The board doesn’t have the stones to make a decision.
On October 14, someone on the Progress staff wrote a very good editorial on things that could be done on the Easter Connector even when revenue levels are down. The writer stated the need for long term planning and action.
PLANNING??? LEADERSHIP??? ACTION??? There’s a novel idea.
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