Crozet's community blog
I know that the sidewalks are being used now quite frequently and I look forward to more people using the bike lanes when they’re in place … if you haven’t been down Jarman’s Gap lately, the progress (while seemingly slow to those who are living through the construction) is coming along quickly.
If you’re interested, this is everything that I’ve written about Jarman’s Gap here on RealCrozetVA.
And it’s looking good.
Now … when’s the rest of it going to close?
Get ready. Monday, Jarmans Gap will close for 45 – 60 days.
With water main work finished, installation of box culvert can proceed
CULPEPER — Closure of Route 691 (Jarmans Gap Road) in Crozet will begin September 12, following yesterday’s completion of underground utility work that had caused several delays.
VDOT will close Jarmans Gap Road between Route 1209 (Haden Lane) and Route 1201 (Blue Ridge Avenue) on September 12 and begin installation of a new box culvert in Powells Creek. The work is expected to take 45-60 days.
During the closure, motorists will be detoured from Jarmans Gap Road south on Route 240 (Crozet Avenue) to Route 250 (Rockfish Gap Turnpike) to Old Trail Drive and back to Jarmans Gap Road. School buses will use the same route.
More information about the project can be found on VDOT’s web site.
I’m thinking I should look for a widget to put in the sidebar of RealCrozetVA to track the Jarman’s Gap timelines.
– First it was “June through August of 2011”
– Then it was “August 15”
– Then it was “August 22”
– Today (16 August 2011) it’s “August 29”
As of 8/24/2011: Now it’s “September 12 to November 12”
And VDOT told me that there’s likely to be another delay due to Hurricane Irene’s arrival.
At some point, the sign needs to read:
“You’ll know when the road’s closed when it’s closed. When it’s open, it’ll be open.”
Update:
From Stacy Londrey at VDOT (who has been very quick to respond to my emails):
The closure has indeed been moved to September 12. We are experiencing continuing water-line troubles while attempting to relocate utilities before the closure, which accounts for the many delays. A positive out of this most recent delay is it provides recovery time after Hurricane Irene, if she shows herself this far inland.
Also from Stacy:
Our project inspector has heard from several residents of Haden Lane that they are concerned about access. Jarmans Gap Road will be closed just east of their road, meaning that they will only be able to make left turns off their street—but they will have full mobility without driving through a work zone. This will allow them access to the official detour route (down Old Trail Drive) and other points west.
The attached map may provide a good visual for the location of the closure.
If you haven’t driven Jarman’s Gap in the past few days or weeks, the changes there are remarkable.
Track the project – budget, schedule, contacts – on VDOT’s page.
There are fewer trees on Jarman’s Gap Road as the widening begins.
I’ve been biking to and from Old Trail quite a bit recently – showing houses, physical therapy on my busted-up-ankle, looking at new construction … I’m really looking forward to the bike lanes.
I’ve fielded a couple of questions over the past few days …
Any idea why they are doing the major tree clear cutting on jarmans rd? Could this be for the widening/sidewalks or dominion clipping to prevent power outages?
And:
Over the past 2 days they have been taking down what appears to be most of the trees on the southern side of Jarmans Gap Road starting from the west end. Is this for the sidewalks? Just curious if you happened to hear anything, sorry if I missed anything about it.
So … what’s going on?
From Jack Kelsey with the County of Albemarle:
The sidewalk will be on the north side of JGR only. Utility relocations are planned for the south side and must be completed before VDOT bid the construction contract. So the tree removal is most likely associated with the utility relocation activities.
And from Howard Tomlinson, Project Manager of VDOT confirms:
Yes the sidewalk is planned only on the northern side of Rte.691 under the UPC 11129 project. Any tree removal at this time will be for utility relocation.