When the Albemarle County Planning Commission unanimously approved the 54-acre rezoning of UVA’s Fontaine Research Park in July, it did so without specifically including the most scrutinized piece of park property: a plot of land reserved for the Sunset/Fontaine Connector. One month later, the planning commission signed off on the same request to allow for more commercial space, updated to clarify the land reserved by the UVA Foundation for the path it favors.
“We’re looking forward to the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 8 as a final step,” says Fred Missel, UVA Foundation’s Director of Design and Development, of the park’s rezoning.
But while the UVA Foundation is committed to building the connector, a route between Fontaine and Sunset avenues—first recommended in 2004 in a study produced by the city, county and UVA—is yet to be finalized. Now, a new study by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission will examine the UVA Foundation’s preferred path, along Stribling Avenue, as well as other routes that might lower costs to the county.
The connector was once discussed as a possible way to moderate traffic to and from Biscuit Run, before the state purchased the county’s 3,100-unit development as a 1,200-acre park. In a July report, county staff identified Natural Resources Drive, which runs along the western edge of the research park, as an alternative location for the connector.
“Once you get off of foundation property, it’s going to be really, really expensive because of all the various issues—stream crossings, terrain of land, railroad crossings,” says Claudette Grant, a senior planner with the county. The TJPDC study, says Grant, “may give us an idea of whether there is a location that is less expensive.”
The cost to the UVA Foundation, however, seems set. According to a proffer statement, the UVA Foundation agrees to construct its portion of the connector along Stribling, or contribute a comparable amount of cash for a different connector alignment on its property. Previous estimates put the total connector cost in the neighborhood of $12 million.
Stephen Williams, executive director of the TJPDC, says the study will “look at a number of different connections. We’ll try to find the one—or two, or three—that have the greatest benefits for traffic with the least negative impacts.”
The TJPDC’s study will estimate, among other factors, the number of trips through the park. Williams says the TJPDC hopes to present results of the study to the Planning & Coordination Council, composed of representatives from the city, county and UVA, by the group’s next meeting, scheduled for November 18.
Missel says the Stribling alignment for the connector is the only alignment that would not adversely impact park operations. A regional connector might conflict with many of the park’s services, such as an ambulatory surgery clinic or physical rehabilitation hospital, says Missel.
“I believe that the Board of Supervisors, as the planning commissioners did, will see the wisdom in a perimeter road as opposed to a road that bisects the park,” he adds.
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