The U.S. 250 Bypass and McIntire Road interchange, part of the controversial Meadowcreek Parkway (MCP), may be one step closer to becoming a reality. Meanwhile, opponents of the projects may be one step closer to filing an injunction against them.
On September 29, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a Finding of No Significant Impact for the interchange—a required step for all federally funded projects under the National Environmental Policy Act. The 250 Interchange is federally funded to the tune of $27 million, thanks to a 2005 earmark from then-senator John Warner.
The FHWA found the interchange will have no significant impact on the environment, namely McIntire Park. The FHWA’s report adds that the interchange will “result in several beneficial impacts,” including the installation of signs featuring the histories of McIntire Park and the Rock Hill landscape, and the creation of a rehabilitation plan for Rock Hill, which once housed a botanical garden on the grounds of the Monticello Area Community Action Agency.
“I certainly don’t agree with the report,” says John Cruickshank, a member of the Coalition to Preserve McIntire Park, a group that opposes the project. “It understates the impact that the interchange and the McIntire Road Extended are going to have on the park. It particularly understates the cumulative effects of the two projects together.”
Tim Hulbert, President and Chief Executive of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, says the FHWA report is an important step forward. “It allows the project to proceed to conclusion and hopefully, the construction of the interchange,” he said.
But Cruickshank says the coalition, which contests the depiction of the McIntire Road interchange as a project separate from the city’s McIntire Road Extended project, plans to file an injunction to prevent construction of the parkway.
“An Interchange of this size and design would never be built if there were not plans to build McIntire Road Extended through McIntire Park,” says Cruickshank. “I don’t see how they can justify that.”
The FHWA report states that although McIntire Road Extended is not federally funded, it is “included in the cumulative effects analysis for McIntire Park because the project is reasonably foreseeable.” Cruickshank points out that the report states McIntire Road Extended would permanently impact 2.6 acres of the park and temporarily affect 9.4 acres of the park with construction easements.
However, Hulbert says the project, 43 years in the making, will add a road network that could be vital in sustaining the vitality of the city.
“What our Chamber has always maintained is that the Meadowcreek Parkway…[is] a beautiful, safe, accessible gateway into a vibrant Downtown,” he says.
