Friday, December 14, 2007

No More Gravel Roads In Albemarle?

One program that seems to have gotten very little notice is the Virginia Rustic Rural Roads program. It's one of those ironic programs that is meant to eliminate the very thing it is named for. The real aim of this program is essentially to pave all as many gravel roads in Virginia as possible.

To some people, this might sound like a good idea; after all, it can save on maintenance costs and will mean less dust and paint chips on the vehicles of people who travel on the roads. Unfortunately, one thing that people don't realize is that these roads actually provide lots of free services to the community that will be lost if they are paved:

  • They keep roads safe by slowing cars down
  • They provide a free and safe place for runners, cyclists, and pedestrians to use. This is incredibly important for marathon runners like myself. (When you have to do a 20 mile long run, you really need a softer surface and a safe place to run - and running back and forth to get twenty miles is just not an option...)
  • The slower speed of them makes them less fatal to wildlife. Note that several of the areas scheduled to be paved are right next to biodiversity hot spots in the county.
  • The permeable surface won't create as much runoff and pollution
  • They naturally limit development in rural areas (it's less likely that someone will choose to build a subdivision off a gravel road). The past controversy over paving Blenheim Road, covered by the Hook is an excellent example of how the rural roads program may be favoring development interests over the values of rural communities.

To see how important these roads are, pick a nice day and go to the beginning of Ridge Road where you will almost always see a large number of cars parked of people who are running, walking or cycling on the road. The same is true of Dick Woods, another popular road in the county and listed to be paved by the Rustic Rural Roads Program. Recently, Charlottesville Tomorrow covered the Albemarle Planning Commission's meeting discussing this program. One of the questions that came up was regarding whether the program is in direct conflict with the comprehensive plan which seeks to limit development in the rural areas. These plans will now go before the Board of Supervisors early next year for a vote, so now is an excellent time to comment on the program.

Below are just a few of the over 50 roads in Albemarle under consideration for paving under the rural roads program. For your convenience I've linked them to Google Maps so you can see where they are. I've also marked roads of particular concern, which are immediately next to identified biodiversity hot spots in Green or very popular for running and cycling in Red. (feel free to send me a note if I missed one!)

Posted by Lonnie at 7:54 AM
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, they paved the rest of Woods Edge last year -- not blacktop, but tar and chip. It has reduced all except the most stubborn potholes, and it keeps the dust down a bit when it's dry, but people do drive faster than ever -- especially the UPS and FedEx drivers in their big trucks.

When they paved, VDOT also did a poor job of digging out drainage ditches; the water flow is not managed properly to handle a downpour, so that some areas wind up swampy or covered in debris.

December 14, 2007 11:19 AM
Lonnie said...

Thanks for the comment. I'll mark it as already paved. (They haven't published their new list yet).

Incidentally, I believe what you describe is part of the methodolgy of the rural roads program. They don't grade or change drainage unless they absolutely have to so that they can do it cheap.

Regarding the speed of vehicles, I think few people really count on how much it'll increase the speed of cars and trucks on the roads. Basically, they don't have dusty cars anymore but they can never safely walk on their roads again. I'm especially concerned about Walnut Level Road for that reason, since it runs right by a community of people with developmental disabilities.

December 14, 2007 11:46 AM
Zeke said...

I live in rural Albemarle on Decca Lane. I want to keep rural Albemarle unpaved (especially my little slice of unpaved heaven).

I have contacted my supervisor and emailed the rest at bos@albemarle.org to ask that our gravel roads remain unpaved.

Thanks Lonnie for highlighting this issue.

January 11, 2008 3:50 PM
Lonnie said...

Thanks Zeke for commenting. I grew up in Ivy in walking/running distance of Decca. It's a beautiful road that would indeed negatively impacted, and I'm glad some residents feel the same as I do on the issue. I also think if Decca is paved and straightened then people will use it as a cut-through as they do for Whipporwill to get to Garth.

January 11, 2008 5:50 PM

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