Note that the picture of the sign is old … but was in place long enough that the area code changed from 804 to 434. 🙂
*please read this whole thing, and then read the thing at the bottom.
Will the Eastern Connector come to fruition in our lifetimes?
Maybe.
The above is from the July 2022 Transportation Planning Report.
I asked Kevin McDermott, Planning Manager for Albemarle County if the Eastern Connector might have a realistic timeline. He answered:
We have a proposed timeline for construction of the Eastern Ave Southern Connector but, because we are still working to gather the full amount of funding the project is currently estimated at, that schedule could still fluctuate.
We have already completed design and engineering for the project to the 30% level. Between FY23 and FY27 the County has dedicated another $12M to this project through the CIP. The State has dedicated $8.1M in the years FY26 and FY27. That would set us up for construction in FY29. We are currently looking at ways to advance this by using the County CIP funds to continue to advance design and engineering so that we can move straight in to construction in FY26 when the State money becomes available. The issues we need to overcome are to get VDOT approval to continue moving the design forward despite no state money being available for 2 more years and to identify a way to address the gap in funding of about $3.5M from the current estimate of $24M and the $20.5M currently available.
Hope that provides the information you were looking for. Obviously the County really wants to do everything we can to move this project along quickly but unfortunately the timeline is dependent on a lot of factors outside of our control.
So the answer is – I think there may be a realistic timeline?
Someone who follows me on Twitter sent me these two things:
I found this link and it shows the current status of the Eastern Avenue extension in the Smart Portal. Looks like if approved and everything goes to plan (ha) construction would begin in 2027.
They sent me this as well:
I also reached out to VDOT about the roundabout at 240/250 that was slated to go to bid this fall. Was told it’s been delayed.
“You are reading the website correctly, but the information isn’t up to date. The project is behind and I anticipate that it will be advertised next year. Thank you for reaching out to me and I apologize for not having the information updated.”
*the thing I want you to read.
We need journalists. Sean Tubbs at Charlottesville Community Engagement is doing a remarkable job, so is the Crozet Gazette. I wrote about them recently. I’m a Realtor at Nest. While I think I’m doing journalism when I write on RealCrozetVA, my profession is not journalism. We need people like Sean, the reporters at Crozet Gazette, and we’re really missing the amazing journalists at the Daily Progress.
While I do my damnedest to know about my community, and know more than my clients who are moving within or to the area, I/we need the people who do this – they tie the threads together to make the story, and they write and describe to both inform, and to hold others accountable.
Did you know the Daily Progress has only one reporter right now? Sean Tubbs at Charlottesville Community Engagement is providing extraordinary work for the community (please pay to subscribe; if you’re interested, I’ll gift you a subscription – ask me.)
Sean reminded us this week
There’s an entire newspaper devoted to Crozet, and the Crozet Gazette is the best source for information coming out of western Albemarle County.
Without full-time journalists who know what they’re doing, like what they do, and stick around to build and share institutional knowledge – we all suffer.
