The Meadowcreek Parkway moved one step closer to reality at the June 12 city Planning Commission meeting but not without resistance. The Commission approved the McIntire Road-Route 250 Bypass Interchange as consistent with the city’s Comprehensive Plan. But things quickly got hazy.
 A steering committee for the Meadowcreek Parkway interchange liked this design. The Planning Commission approved the “character and extent” of an interchange, though not a specific design. |
The interchange is just one piece of the two-mile, $39 million parkway that would connect the Route 250 Bypass and McIntire Road with Rio Road—a project that’s been in various stages of planning for 40 years. After a slide-show presentation of design options, Jim Tolbert, director of Neighborhood Development Services, reminded the Commission that it only needed to decide if the interchange—not the parkway—met the 6-year-old Comprehensive Plan.
Although there is a draft of a 2007 plan, it hasn’t been approved. The Commission used the 2001 plan, a document soon for the trash bin.
Even before discussion began, Vice Chair Bill Lucy called on City Attorney Craig Brown to clarify exactly what the Commission was deciding, asking how one might assess “character and extent” of an interchange as the agenda specified. Lucy also asked if this was the last time the Commission would review the interchange. Brown said yes. A look of frustration rolled down Lucy’s face.
While the actual discussion of the interchange included your everyday civic concerns—pedestrian safety, noise levels—such talk was overshadowed by concerns from Lucy about the meeting itself. Lucy noted that the Commission had been given no direction on the review process and no reports on the impact of the proposed interchange. He also noted “major differences” between the 2001 and 2007 comprehensive plans.
“This feels like a rush,” Lucy said before voting against it. Jason Pearson abstained. Cheri Lewis, Mike Farruggio (both members of the Interchange Steering Committee) and Hosea Mitchell voted for approval.
City Councilor Kevin Lynch, who’s also on the Steering Committee, says the rush was due to the interchange design running behind schedule, but that he’d like the Commission to look at the interchange again. The Steering Committee will present interchange designs at the July 2 City Council meeting.
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