The latest incarnation of the Southern Urban Area B report may be two and a half years old, but there’s still a chance the county will adopt the plans before it turns three. The County Planning Commission approved most of the recommendations from the study of the area that intersects city, county and UVA.
If the Board of Supervisors follow suit in June, that largely means that the county will officially put a connector road between Sunset and Fontaine on its wish-list. And why not? Much of its construction would be funded by private developers, rumored to include Coran Capshaw, who want to put office and residential space on the 70-acre Granger property. Many city leaders, notably City Councilor Kevin Lynch, have long called for that road—it made the city’s list of projects to try to extract from Biscuit Run developers.
 Southern Urban Area B was set aside in the 1980s for joint planning between the city, county and University. The county made steps to include a connector between Fontaine and Sunset avenues in its comprehensive plan at a recent Planning Commission meeting. It’s a road city leaders are also eager to have. |
Area B was born of the so-called Three Party Agreement, which was signed by the city, county and UVA in 1986. Because of its important proximity to all three entities, the area was highlighted so that any changes there would be jointly planned. The 2004 Southern Urban Area B study was an update of one conducted in 1989.
One possibility mentioned in the Area B study that didn’t make the Planning Commission cut is a Stadium Road extension that would link to Fontaine near the research park, alleviating the bottleneck at the intersection of JPA and Fontaine. County staff originally recommended it, but it was pulled at the behest of UVA.
Representing the University on the Planning Commission, Julia Monteith explained that UVA wants to expand what is now a bike path to serve the bus system and traffic in and out of Scott Stadium. Carol Wood, University spokesperson, says that UVA would pay for upgrades for such “controlled-access” but is not in favor of making that section a public road.
Lynch says that the Stadium Road connection needs to be made. “It’s an important part of the road infrastructure,” says Lynch.
The Board of Supervisors will make the final determination in June.
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