One of the biggest challenges facing a growing locality is how to pay for infrastructure needed to support a larger population. Most funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia depends on competitive processes that require detailed plans before applications can even be submitted.
On November 19, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors had been expected to endorse an initiative from economic development staff to apply for a special pool of state funding. The money will support construction of a $42 million extension of Boulders Road northward from a county business park called Rivanna Futures.
“The timing of need for the Boulders Road extension has accelerated, based on the recent AstraZeneca announcement,” said Economic Development Director Emily Kilroy in a memo asking the Economic Development Authority to contribute $500,000 to the project.
However the item was pulled for further work shortly before publication and will come back at a later date.
The Places29 Master Plan adopted in February 2011 set several priorities that have since been built, such as Hillsdale Drive Extended, widening U.S. 29 to six lanes between Polo Grounds Road and Hollymead Town Center, and Berkmar Extended.
A map in the Places29 Plan shows the extension, but the project is not included among the dozens on a priority list Albemarle staff last updated in 2019. However, the county paid $250,000 for a key property at the intersection of U.S. 29 and Austin Drive in May 2018.
The new roadway is not within Albemarle County’s five-year capital improvement program, but has been included in a concept plan for Rivanna Futures, the name given to land Albemarle County bought for $58 million in December 2023 for economic development purposes. There is no entry for the project in a database of projects in the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Six-Year Improvement Program.
Kilroy said the Commonwealth of Virginia has been working with Albemarle to move the project forward by using $20 million from the Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund. This has to be approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board at its next action meeting on December 10.
As part of the deal that had been up for consideration, Albemarle will have to contribute at least $10 million, including $1.2 million for the value of the right of way for the future roadway. AstraZeneca would contribute the rest.
Albemarle planners are also preparing the next round of submissions through Smart Scale, a process mandated by the General Assembly that requires all projects to be scored according to their benefits. The process runs every two years, and none of Albemarle’s recent submissions were successful. Applications for the next round are due next year.
Another funding source is the VDOT revenue-sharing program, which Albemarle County is using to try to complete Eastern Avenue, a north-south roadway called for in the Crozet Master Plan. Albemarle has so far accumulated $16.2 million for the project, with half of that coming from the local government. However, the cost estimate for the project jumped to $39.5 million. This year, the county attempted to attract a private partner to cover the cost difference, but a solicitation was canceled.
