Once upon a time, one of the area’s most rollicking controversies was the Western Bypass, a six-mile stretch of road proposed to help through-traffic on Route 29 from D.C. to Lynchburg avoid the crawl through strip-mall hell. Meetings were held, letters were written, an endangered species was found, lawsuits were filed. Even as recently as 2004, some in the General Assembly tried to pass a bill to force the road to get built, though it was watered down in the end.
These days, the Western Bypass has faded into the background. True, the local Chamber of Commerce wants it built, and the Western Bypass is still listed on the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)’s six-year plan—but with zero dollars allocated in each of those years.
That means that VDOT has been a landlord for a lot longer than it anticipated. VDOT began acquiring the right-of-way in the early ’90s, buying some property, getting easements on other parcels, until it amassed over 250 acres—80 percent of the land it needs to build the road. But with funding stalled, VDOT is left acting as a property manager for the 35 housing units it owns.
"VDOT’s not generally in the property-management business long term," says Lou Hatter, regional VDOT spokesman. He’s unaware of any other active projects in the state with as many housing units held for so long. "We’re certainly not in it to make a profit," says Hatter.
State law provides that if a transportation project isn’t under construction 20 years after the property was purchased, the previous owner can ask that it be sold back for the original price. But unfortunately for anybody trying to get back their land in the next decade, the Western Bypass is an exception to that rule: So long as the Commonwealth Transportation Board continues to list the Western Bypass on the six-year plan, the land can’t revert to private hands.
To get built, the bypass, which has already had $45 million allocated in previous years, will need more than money. Political will is necessary to move on the remaining right-of-way and construction. And that political will doesn’t seem like something local leaders can muster.
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