MCP vote comes with symbolic opposition

In the end, the city approval of its portion of the Meadowcreek Parkway came down to a technicality, one so small that three of five city councilors couldn’t say no. On Monday, August 18, after a dozen speakers implored them not to, councilors David Brown, Satyendra Huja and Julian Taliaferro gave the tiny nudge necessary to allow the project to go out to construction bid. There will be no more public hearings on the road itself.

“I do think that for where we are now, that this is an important road,” said Brown. “I think we’re going to continue to be car dependent, we’re going to see Albemarle Place built, we’re going to see 29 get more congested. We’re going to need a vibrant Downtown.”

For the uninitiated: The thing we call the Meadowcreek Parkway is actually three different projects. One segment is in the county, and would run from Rio Road to Melbourne Road. The other two projects are in the city: McIntire Extended goes from Melbourne Road to within 775′ of the 250 Bypass, where a separate $35.5 million project takes over. On August 18, City Council definitively granted temporary easements to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to build the McIntire Extended portion through McIntire Park. Council also signed off on a diamond interchange for the 250 intersection, though that project will have to come back for a public hearing, probably in the spring.

The Meadowcreek Parkway has served these past four decades as the ultimate symbol of Charlottesville’s divisions with the county, with the automobile and with its self. A two-mile stretch of road, it will ostensibly allow traffic to flow more expediently from 29 North to the middle of the city and vice versa. But it will also go through the city’s largest park. Moreover, critics say it’s the product of an auto-centric era, a cut-through so that county residents can get from one side to the other.

Most councilors felt like the real final decision was made in October 2007. This vote came because of a technicality—a slight change in stormwater design necessitated Council’s approval. At this last public hearing on the road, a dozen people opposed the project. No one came out to support it, though perhaps proponents assumed it was the done deal it ended up being.

Mayor Dave Norris offered a pro forma vote in protest, arguing that the county wasn’t likely to live up to its end of the deal. Holly Edwards joined him in voting no, though she offered no explanation of her vote.

Norris’ vote served as evidence on the record that the Parkway was divisive to the end. “Ultimately, I don’t think it benefits the City of Charlottesville,” says Norris. “It is going to benefit a certain number of residents who live north of the Bypass on Park Street, at least for a short time, but looking at our city as a whole, looking at our Downtown, looking at what we could be doing with these dollars rather than paving over our biggest park—there’s so many reasons to me to not do this road.”

He sees some silver lining. The final resolution conveying the easements include language about the “expectation” that the county will do certain things—increase transit funding, improve pedestrian and bike trails in its urban ring, build the Sunset/Fontaine connector and keep working on the Eastern Connector.

If Norris’ vote did nothing else, it at least spoiled a bet of architectural historian Dan Bluestone. In his comments, Bluestone, a city resident, said that he had a betting pool back home that the vote would be 5-0.

“I think you people have stopped listening,” said Bluestone. “You’re not thinking any longer, you’re just committed to voting five votes yes, and that’s where we go. There’s not going to be any debate about this.”

Before casting his “no” vote with Edwards, Norris told him, “I hope you didn’t bet too much money.”

C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.