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Driving it home

During the height of holiday traffic before and after Christmas, the Virginia Department of Transportation will suspend most work zones and lane closures. But VDOT says that drivers should still be cautious, with more cars on the road and potential inclement weather. Photo by Virginia Department of Transportation.

Sure, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. But along with holiday festivities comes the traffic. Lots of traffic. And while roads will be bumper to bumper in the coming weeks, the Virginia Department of Transportation has a few tips for minimizing your travel stress.

According to VDOT, the periods of heaviest traffic will be the Friday and Saturday before Christmas (December 22 and 23) and the weekdays immediately following the holiday (December 26 to 28). Some areas where traffic is expected to be the worst include I-95 northbound and southbound near Fredericksburg and I-395 northbound near Arlington.
VDOT will suspend a majority of work zones and lane closures during the peak holiday travel window, but some semi-permanent zones will remain closed. Construction, lane, and shoulder closures will continue in Hampton Roads, which may cause significant congestion on nearby portions of I-64.

VDOT also reminds drivers to stay safe this season and keep an eye on weather conditions. “One of the things that we always stress—and it’s really easy for people to forget … in all the business of the holiday season—is to make sure that you stay weather aware,” says Lou Hatter, VDOT communications manager for the Culpeper District. “Particularly as we get into the colder parts of the year, people who are traveling should always be aware of the weather conditions, not just where they are, but also where they’re going … and the route along the way.”

Hatter also recommends that travelers dress for the weather when driving, and have resources on hand in case of an emergency. “It’s always a good idea to have some kind of a winter coat, some sort of decent footwear, again just in case you get stuck,” he says. “You don’t want to be stuck out on the road somewhere in traffic backup wearing short pants and flip flops in December. It’s always a good idea to pack those extra clothes, [and] something that can help you stay warm if for some reason you get stuck.”

Safe driving is important year-round, but especially when roads are crowded. In addition to standard best practices of using turn signals, wearing seat belts, and not driving when distracted or under the influence, VDOT recommends leaving extra space between you and the car in front of you.

“With increased traffic, it’s even more important to make sure that you maintain a safe distance between yourself and other vehicles,” says Hatter. “Be aware and thoughtful about the fact that there’s going to be more traffic out there on the roads.”

According to data from the Department of Motor Vehicles, areas of high traffic were the most frequent crash sites across the Charlottesville area in 2023. Areas with some of the highest crash volumes this year include the Barracks Road Shopping Center, Route 29 near Stonefield, the 250 Bypass at Pantops, and Interstate 64.

To learn more about anticipated traffic conditions across Virginia this holiday season and other VDOT safety recommendations, visit vdot.virginia.gov. Real-time conditions can be found through the Virginia 511 app or information line.

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Circle theory: Two roundabouts in Crozet’s future

U.S. 250 west near Crozet has new circular traffic patterns coming in the next few years.

Every few years, the idea to put a roundabout at difficult intersections pops up—and usually disappears. Charlottesville’s former mayor and longtime delegate, the late Mitch Van Yahres, was a big roundabout fan, and he supported the one installed at the airport, one of the few bandied about from the early aughts that actually got built.

Two roundabouts eligible for federal funding are on the horizon for U.S. 250 around Crozet—one at its intersection with Route 240 and another 10 miles farther west at Alcohol Alley—Route 151 in Afton. Both locations “have a history of crashes, all related to turning,” says VDOT’s Stacy Londrey.

U.S. 250 near Crozet could get two roundabouts for the crash-prone intersections at Route 240 and at Route 151.“For several years, VDOT has looked at alternatives to traffic signals,” she says.

That’s why North Pointe on U.S. 29 North will have something called a super-street intersection, one of the first in the state, rather than eight stoplights.

“Often roundabouts are a better solution to keep traffic moving rather than coming to a complete stop,” says Londrey. “You’re pretty much able to roll along without completely stopping. We don’t see the backups that we see with signals.”

One factor in the roundabout rollout is legislation the General Assembly passed in 2014 called Smart Scale to take the politics out of a formerly closed-door process (ahem, Western 29 Bypass) and make it more transparent.

It allows Albemarle County and the Metropolitan Planning Organization to apply for funding, and projects are scored for safety, accessibility and keeping traffic moving, explains Londrey.

“Localities are getting on board with roundabouts,” she says. “It was the county that recommended the Crozet roundabout.”

Both projects will go to the Commonwealth Transportation Board in June, and if it okays the funding, design work will begin in July. “It’s a two- to three-year process before we see dirt moved,” says Londrey.

Bill McKechnie, who is building Mechum’s Trestle restaurant on a tight lot at Route 240, favors the roundabout at that location. “I think people need to slow down,” he says.

Not everyone is a roundabout fan, however. Helen Maupin acknowledges that 250/240 is a “dreadful, dreadful intersection,” but thinks it has way too much traffic volume for a roundabout, unlike the one at the airport or the two in Old Trail.

Maupin grew up in the U.K. and admits she hated the roundabouts there, and she fears people here don’t know how to use them.

“A roundabout doesn’t slow traffic,” she says. “It creates frustrated drivers edging out into traffic, making it more dangerous. I feel a stoplight is the only solution there.”

Others have concerns about the intersection at Route 151 with trucks coming down Afton Mountain on U.S. 250.

“VDOT thinks that tractor trailers and heavily loaded/oversized vehicles will have no issue slowing down coming off of Afton and the road grade to drive into a roundabout,” says frequent traveler Whitney Jones-Allen.

VDOT says speed reduction would start far enough back for safe braking on the downhill.

And once the CTB approves the projects, there will be public hearings, says Londrey.

“I do think there’s some hesitation, especially in the rural areas,” she says. But they’re “not as confusing as people seem to think.”

Other pluses: Roundabouts require less maintenance than traffic signals, she says. And once they’re installed, the number of crashes seems to go down.

“The great thing about roundabouts is you have to slow down, so if there is a crash, it’s not as severe because of the lower speeds,” says Londrey.

Roundabout roundup:

U.S. 250/Route 240 intersection

  • 11,000 vehicles a day on U.S. 250
  • 5,800 vehicles a day on Route 240
  • $3.5 million cost, funded from the Federal Highway Administration’s High-Risk Rural Roads program

U.S. 250/Route 151 intersection

  • 6,700 vehicles a day on U.S. 250
  • 10,000 a day on Route 151
  • $5.8 million cost, funded from the FHA’s Highway Safety Improvement Program

Other area roundabouts:

  • Hillsdale Drive Extended (underway now, a city project)
  • Routes 15/53 in Fluvanna (underway now)
  • Routes 53/600 in Fluvanna (built in 2013)
  • Routes 53/618 in Fluvanna (in design)
  • Routes 20/231 in Orange (in design)

—Courtesy VDOT

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Potential traffic nightmare

A parking map for Saturday, October 22. A larger version can be found at the bottom of the story. Courtesy of UVA Police

UVA football and Carrie Underwood fans could be on a collision course this weekend.

The University of Virginia Police Department has issued a traffic and parking advisory for Saturday, October 22, near UVA Grounds, and suggests avoiding the area if possible.

The UVA football team will face a longtime rival, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, at 3pm at Scott Stadium. A 7pm Carrie Underwood concert at John Paul Jones Arena is also expected to draw large crowds to the same vicinity.

Expect traffic delays if you are attending either event and plan to arrive early, police advise. And since a majority of the traffic will be in the evening with low light, they ask you to be cautious while watching for pedestrians and officers conducting traffic control.

A parking map is below. Click to enlarge.

Parking Map Saturday, October 22, 2016[9]

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Stopped light: Long wait at downtown signal triggers questions

Besides creating delays on Water Street, the Third Street SE stoplight is also known for once having a Southern-accented male voice instructing pedestrians when to cross. Staff photo

On Water Street, buses regularly back up at a traffic light at Third Street SE that has the Water Street Parking Garage on one side and a half street dead-ending on the Downtown Mall on the other. Water Street traffic can idle at this light for nearly a minute, by this reporter’s count. The Charlottesville Area Transit advisory board asked that it be changed, a request that was under way until City Manager Maurice Jones intervened and put the request on hold.

“Some business owners raised some concerns that they believe this crosswalk is the best one for folks with mobility issues or handicapped to get on the mall,” says city spokesperson Miriam Dickler. “They asked the city to reconsider. We put a pause on that to consider other options.”

That pause has raised concerns for Lena Seville, who sits on the CAT advisory board, which has been asking that the signal, which is right after a bus stop, be changed for months. “We were told Neighborhood Development Services couldn’t restripe until the weather was warm,” she says. “Everything I was told was that it was going to be removed.”

Seville also says she was told someone on City Council had intervened on someone else’s behalf who did not want the signal removed.

“A lot about this bothers me,” she says. “There’s a process in place. They’re elected to be fair, not to get special treatment for friends and donors. They’re supposed to work for the overall benefit of the public, not the special benefit of individuals.”

“Nobody I talked to had talked to anybody from City Council about this,” says Dickler. “People contact the city manager’s office all the time. It’s a totally appropriate way to contact the city.”

She says Neighborhood Development and CAT staff are working to evaluate the situation.

“It does delay the buses,” especially at the bottom of the hour when 11 buses leave the Transit Center and get stopped at the light, says CAT manager John Jones. “The last bus in line can lose four minutes of transit time. People riding the No. 10 bus are quite sensitive to delays.”

“It seemed ridiculous to back up traffic on that street,” says Seville. “Each bus has to wait for its own green light.”

From her own observation at the bus stop, she says it’s rare to see someone use that crosswalk. And she says the green light for dead-end Third Street stays green as long as it is on Water Street—with no traffic coming out of Third.

“The thing is, it’s not activated by actual use,” she says. Lights can have sensors or can be pedestrian activated. “I don’t think it should work the way it works. It could be modified.”

It’s not the first time there has been grousing about the city’s handling of traffic lights. The long-awaited McIntire Interchange opened in February 2015, and for months drivers languished through multiple cycles at a light that was green for only 18 seconds, despite heavy traffic volume, backups and complaints. Lights installed at Park Street also stalled commutes.

Citizens who have concerns about traffic issues can contact Neighborhood Development, for which Rashad Hanbali is the new traffic engineering manager, says Dickler. Or, apparently, they can also complain to the city manager’s office.

“It appears there’s sort of a lack of transparency and evenness to this process,” says Seville. “It feels like things are happening behind the scenes. I would have liked it transparent and public.”

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Committee advocates for Pantops pedestrian bridge

Diane Berlin, who leads the Pantops Walkability Committee, says a pedestrian bridge over Route 250 at Rolkin Road would be safer for walkers and ease traffic, too. Staff photo

The Pantops Walkability Committee is hosting its first community meeting to discuss the need for a pedestrian bridge over Route 250 at Rolkin Road.

The committee, under the leadership of Diane Berlin, hopes retailers and residents in the Pantops area will support their vision for the proposed bridge, which would follow the Pantops master plan and make the area “an innovative and walkable community,” Berlin says.

“You take your life into your own hands,” she says about crossing Route 250 on foot. Calling the road “treacherous,” she says building a pedestrian bridge would reduce traffic by allowing people who live on one side to access the other’s retail and restaurant opportunities without ever getting behind the wheel.

A bridge similar to the one Berlin proposes at Rolkin Road already exists on Emmet Street.

Public input is welcome at the community meeting at the Broadus Memorial Baptist Church on Route 20 at 3pm on March 19.

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Nightmare on Water Street

No word yet on how long a portion of a major downtown thoroughfare will closed. Staff photo

Utilities relocation for Market Plaza had already closed the eastbound lane on Water Street and detoured traffic to South Street and Second Street SE, and when Second Street was also closed last week, many who park in the Water Street Garage were trapped in an extraordinarily long exit line March 3.

“Staff met with [contractors] yesterday and told them they need a better plan,” said city spokesperson Miriam Dickler March 8. “They’re supposed to have a plan by the end of the day.”

At press time, she didn’t know how long the utilities work would take, but the Jersey barriers on Water Street could be an ominous sign.

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‘Inherently dangerous’: Route 20 claims another life

Route 20 to Scottsville has evolved from a scenic rural route to a commuters’ and commercial corridor. Days before the most recent fatality, Edward Strickler went to a county transportation meeting to see what could be done to make the road safer. Photo: Martyn Kyle

Even before Juliana Porter became the latest motorist to die October 4 on Route 20 South, longtime commuter Edward Strickler had gone to an Albemarle County transportation meeting to voice his concerns about the road to Scottsville.

He’s seen a lot of fatal or near-fatal accidents since he moved to Scottsville 20 years ago. Strickler estimates that at least three times a week, he and his partner will see dangerous behavior on the road that causes them to go, “Whoa, look at that,” he says. “When someone is gaming the passing zones or passing on a double-yellow line, you can’t do anything. There’s no shoulder to get over on.”

Six people have died on the Constitution Route since 2011, according to Albemarle County Police, but the changes Strickler would like to see—reduced speed limits, eliminated passing zones and added shoulders—are not likely to happen, says the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Porter, 25, a UVA med student from Norfolk, was driving north on Route 20 when her Honda Civic crashed head-on into a Ford Explorer about a mile north of Keene. She became the county’s 11th fatality this year, say Albemarle police. She was valedictorian of her high school class, graduated magna cum laude from Davidson College in 2012 and was engaged to be married next year, according to her obituary.

Strickler, who works in the UVA School of Medicine, says it was not the first time a young doctor has died. He recalls a colleague who had just finished his training and was preparing to start an independent practice when he crashed on Route 20. His peers at the hospital worked unsuccessfully to save his life, and he died leaving a widow and young children. Strickler remembers well his funeral, and says, “In the midst of so much loving care for the dead and the living there was always the truth that this death, this sorrow, this loss were all avoidable.”

Strickler wants the speed limit from the town of Scottsville to Scottsville Elementary School reduced from 35mph to 25mph. While the lower speed would reduce the severity of an accident, says Joel DeNunzio, VDOT’s resident administrator for Albemarle, “The reality is that people are not going to drive that slow.”

Passing zones are another area of concern for Strickler after seeing people make dangerous maneuvers. VDOT will take a look at those, says DeNunzio.

While traveling in rural Maryland recently, Strickler noted its “marvelously wide paved shoulders” and wonders why Albemarle’s rural roads can’t have the same.

Two problems, responds DeNunzio. Part of it is the topography of rural Maryland compared with here. Roads closer to the mountains have fewer shoulders, he says.

“I love the idea of wide shoulders,” which would greatly improve the safety of Route 20 between Charlottesville and Scottsville, he says. However, adding a 4′ shoulder would cost between $15 million and $20 million. Instead, DeNunzio says he’ll recommend spot improvements, which are more likely to find funding, and adding Route 20 to the long-range transportation plan for rural roads.

“Route 20 is an old road that has become a commuter route,” he says, and it would take major reconstruction to straighten curves and flatten hills.

Earl Smith, candidate for the Scottsville seat on the Board of Supervisors, has been riding on that road since he was 12 years old. “What we have now is like a superhighway compared to before,” he says.

Smith remembers “a horrible wreck” in the late 1970s where “six or seven” kids riding in a pickup truck were killed on the same stretch of road where Porter died.

He says he hears a lot of complaints about speeding, and he thinks a lot of the dangerous passing on double-yellow lines comes from people driving too slowly. “A tremendous amount of people are scared to death to drive 20,” he says. “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve ranted about them going 25 or 30mph and won’t pull over.”

Smith agrees that Route 20 South can be perilous, but says he doesn’t think it’s any more dangerous than Black Cat or Old Lynchburg roads.

“It’s always been an issue,” says Rick Randolph, who’s also running to represent the Scottsville District on the Board of Supervisors. “It’s a longstanding concern. People feel it’s best to straighten it out. Given the precarious nature of VDOT funding and the cost that would be involved, the chances are very slim we’ll see that happen.”

Randolph, too, points out that Route 20 isn’t the only inherently dangerous thoroughfare in the county and lists Route 53—“that’s an extremely dangerous road”—and routes 22/231 and 20 North.

Randolph and Smith both suggest signage might be a good idea to urge caution. “People need to remind themselves they need to drive prudently,” says Randolph.

Strickler has another idea for improving safety with more community policing and the presence of officers, “particularly at commuting time.”

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Traffic changes on U.S. 29

Notes from the news desk

Beginning September 28, expect nightly closures of the Rio Road crossover at U.S. 29, as a part of a grade-separated intersection project involving excavation and construction of abutments on which bridge beams will rest when they are placed next summer, according to VDOT.

During the closure, Rio Road traffic will not be able to cross U.S. 29 or make left turns onto it, and left turns from the highway onto Rio Road will also be prohibited. Business entrances north and south of the intersection on U.S. 29 and east and west on Rio Road will remain open during the utility work.

All lanes will be restored by 6am each morning. Speed limits between Hydraulic Road and Airport Road on U.S. 29 will vary between 35 and 45 miles per hour and are in effect all day.

 

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Interchange report card: Bridge over McIntire great, traffic lights ‘a disaster’

Six months after the McIntire Interchange opened, traffic is backed up farther than before it was built. And don’t get people started about Park Street. Photo Martyn Kyle

When the McIntire Interchange opened in February, it was the last piece in a thoroughfare puzzle that had been in play since the Albemarle Board of Supervisors first approved the Meadow Creek Parkway in 1967. The 2.3-mile road, now known as the John Warner Parkway, was envisioned as a way to smoothly stream traffic between downtown and East Rio Road.

Instead, after two years of interchange construction, some complain traffic is worse than ever. Many are avoiding lengthy waits at the interchange at the U.S. 250 Bypass by taking Park Street, which got its own VDOT-mandated signals at the bypass ramps in June and has traffic backed up as well. And City Councilor Bob Fenwick says the city’s response to those complaints “has been a problem.”

After the interchange ribbon was cut, for a brief time it was possible to zip down McIntire Road from downtown without a stop and hop onto the bypass. More common recently: traffic backed up a half mile at rush hour to the ball fields on McIntire Road.

“I was pretty frustrated by it,” says Belmont resident Sarah Otto. “You couldn’t take a left onto the bypass because the light only allows five cars through.” Add to that, a second set of lights remains tantalizingly green to those trapped behind the red.

“I started taking Park Street,” says Otto. “When the lights went in there, it was pretty frustrating. Now I take Locust.”

“It’s a debacle,” says John Hill, who lives off Park on Evergreen Avenue. Based on his anecdotal evidence, he says traffic has “gotten worse” and he’s seen it backed up farther on Park than ever before, even on Sundays.

“And the worst part is,” says Hill, “the initial intent [of the parkway] was to get traffic off the smaller streets like Park.”

Before the traffic lights were installed on Park, “the most amazing thing is when there were flashing lights,” says Hill. “People used their own judgment and there was much better traffic flow.”

Missy Creasy, assistant director for Neighborhood Development Services, says a traffic signal where people have never had to stop “is a really big change.” The interchange and Park Street lights are interconnected and speak to one another “to facilitate safe traffic flow,” she says. She also notes traffic has been heavier since school started.

On September 3, city spokesperson Miriam Dickler said that the intersection lights at both McIntire Road and Park Street were being adjusted that day. “Twelve citizens have registered e-mail complaints about Park Street,” since June, says Dickler. Comments also were made about the McIntire lights early on, but not as many as were received about Park Street, she says.

Traffic engineers are adjusting the green time of traffic lights at McIntire, says Dickler, and changing the phasing on the Park Street lights to allow more traffic up the ramps and to stack on the bridge. Engineers also will adjust traffic detection equipment there, she says.

How well did the adjustment work? That afternoon on McIntire Road, shortly after 5pm, traffic was backed up an additional two-tenths of a mile to the Albemarle County Office Building.

At 5pm, the first set of lights one encounters heading north or south on McIntire stays green for 35 seconds, and the first set at Park are green for 50 seconds, according to the city’s Jeanette Janiczek.

“This isn’t the first time they’ve been adjusted,” says Dickler. “It’s more an art than a science. Getting it to its optimal use is an ongoing process. We’ll keep monitoring and keep getting feedback. We’re trying to figure out the best way to adjust those concerns.”

City Councilor Bob Fenwick says he’s received many complaints—not just about the McIntire interchange and Park Street lights, he says, but also from the Birdwood neighborhood, which bore the brunt of construction inconvenience and lost an exit, and from the businesses at McIntire Plaza.

City responsiveness to those complaints “continues to be a problem across the city,” says Fenwick. “That’s a management problem, and it’s a customer service problem.” Fenwick touts the August 1 promotion of Mike Murphy, former director of human services, to assistant city manager. “I’m expecting big improvements,” he says.

Back in November, nine neighborhood leaders wrote City Council complaining about Neighborhood Development Services, which handles traffic engineering, as well as planning and development, and criticizing the department as “out of touch” to the needs of residents. Its longtime director Jim Tolbert departed in February to take the assistant city manager job in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and Alexander Ikefuna came from Mobile, Alabama, to take the director job August 17.

City Manager Maurice Jones says the lights have been tweaked several times in the past two months.

Says Fenwick, “People are just avoiding [the McIntire] intersection and using Park and Locust Avenue instead. They’re avoiding Harris Street and using Rose Hill Drive. All those nearby roads are taking a hit.”

Fenwick describes his use of the new interchange: “I try to avoid it during rush hour.”

With all these drivers avoiding the road that was supposed to ease traffic congestion, doesn’t that negate the purpose of the John Warner Parkway? “Absolutely,” says Fenwick.

But aside from complaints about the traffic lights, signage and 35mph speed limit on the bypass, many are happy the project is finally completed.

“I’ve been real pleased with it,” says Jackie Binder, owner of Circa on Allied Street. “The light sequencing needs to be tweaked.” But it’s easy turning off the bypass to get to her store, she says. “Overall I think it’s great. You can see Circa from the bypass.”

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Baby on board in roll-away car

A driverless car suscessfully navigated Market Street with no harm to the baby inside. Staff photo

A 2011 Dodge Avenger left running in the parking lot at Guadalajara with a baby in the backseat July 26 rolled across Market Street and crashed into a truck in the parking lot beside the Charlottesville Recreation Center. The baby was unharmed, according to Charlottesville Police’s Steve Upman.

Originally the car was believed to be stolen, but after an investigation and viewing a video, police say the car either popped out of gear or was left in reverse when one person went inside the restaurant to pay for food and another stepped out of the car to throw away trash. “The car rolled at low speed,” says Upman.

And he says no charges are pending at this time.