The Eastern Connector took a baby step toward existence at the most recent Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meeting. Supervisors approved an Eastern Connector alignment study to explore options for a road that would connect Route 29N to Route 20, with the idea of alleviating heavy traffic on Route 250 and Rio Road.
Mark Graham, director of community development, told the board he hopes to have a consultant hired within the next month to begin working on the idea. The study is budgeted at $500,000, a cost split between Albemarle and Charlottesville.
Several Supervisors expressed skepticism that such a connector was necessary, wondering about changes when Martha Jefferson Hospital moves to its Pantops location and questioning such a road’s necessity if more people begin “reverse” commuting from residences in the city to jobs in the county.
“It’s not clear to me how much traffic will be siphoned off [by an eastern connector],” said Supervisor Kenneth Boyd, who was appointed to represent the Board on an Eastern Connector oversight committee. Boyd will be joined by Graham and Juandiego Wade, County transportation planner. The Board of Supervisors will also search for a citizen to appoint to
the committee.
City Councilor Kevin Lynch believes the road is necessary. “We’ve been real strong advocates,” he says. “At some point we just need to agree on what the alignment needs to be. A half dozen [alignments] will work, none are ideal, and we just have to chose the one with the least impact.”
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