It’s a pretty fancy cul-de-sac, but UVA might just have to wait to begin its construction on Valley Road. A part of the University’s South Lawn Project that would close 438′ of Valley Road to build an elaborately landscaped cul-de-sac ran into unexpected trouble at the June 12 meeting of the city Planning Commission. The Commission approved the closure, but included a condition that emergency-response-time measures be clarified.
UVA wasn’t expecting that condition, which could affect the project’s timeline. The cul-de-sac had previously been approved by the city Fire Marshall—its 90′ diameter allows fire trucks to turn around in it. The Commission, however, was worried the closing of Valley Road would increase emergency-response times. Ric Barrick, the city’s director of communications, says that the city and University will work together to make sure that doesn’t happen. But doing that might slow down the project.
The University had planned to close Valley Road this month. Carol Wood, UVA spokesperson, says the University doesn’t know yet what the impact of the unexpected emergency-response-time condition will have on the South Lawn Project. “We’re going to have to step back and re-evaluate,” she says. A June closing of Valley Road is still pending, says Wood, as UVA has “on-going discussions” with the city.
The approval came with two other conditions—a permanent pedestrian easement for the sidewalk connecting Brandon Avenue to Valley Road and a parking restriction on the cul-de-sac. Both of these conditions were recommended in the city’s staff report.
The $105 million South Lawn Project, which broke ground in September of 2006, is scheduled for completion in 2010. A grass-covered bridge will extend across Jefferson Park Avenue to a new Arts & Sciences Building. In 2005, faculty members of the architecture and art department sent an open letter to UVA criticizing the Project’s conservative design, asking for more dialogue on campus.
C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.