As Route 29 projects take shape, some criticize rapid ramp-up

We don’t know exactly what the Route 29 of the future is going to look like, but we do know changes are coming fast—too fast for some business owners who fear the isolating effects of construction and new traffic patterns. The latest timeline for the first slate of projects was at the center of the […]

Mix it up: Developer-architect Bill Atwood takes aim at West Main

Waterhouse building designer Bill Atwood is taking another stab at a multi-story mixed-use development near downtown, and while he believes he’s got a plan for a project that will push West Main Street in the right direction, some are raising concerns that it could put traffic pressure on the surrounding neighborhood. The Atlantic, which will […]

Council OKs replacement of Belmont Bridge, shoots down underpass

Charlottesville’s City Council voted 4-1 Monday night in favor of replacing the aging connector between downtown and Belmont with an “enhanced bridge” as opposed to an underpass—an option that would have routed traffic below existing rail lines, and enjoyed vocal support from some locals and designers who have criticized the city’s planning process on the […]

With Central Virginia poised to become a gas pipeline cut-through, conservationists urge caution

In the span of three months, a trio of pipeline proposals through Virginia has turned the Commonwealth into a key player in the country’s rapidly expanding natural gas industry. The projects, two of which follow preliminary paths that come close to Albemarle County, aren’t exactly unexpected. Still, they have some nearby landowners worried, and conservationists […]

Pipeline plans draw ire in Nelson

A proposed pipeline that would move fracked natural gas from extraction fields in West Virginia to southeast Virginia and North Carolina is generating angry opposition in Nelson County, where residents whose lands may lie in its path are raising concerns about property damage and pollution. The Dominion Southeast Reliability Project, a 450-mile-long pipeline extension, would […]