The Meadowcreek Parkway now is one step closer to becoming a reality.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the Parkway Wednesday, taking recommendations from Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The Meadowcreek Parkway will be a two-mile road connecting Rio Road and the Route 250 Bypass. The Parkway was designed to alleviate traffic congestion on Route 29.
The CTB, a governor-appointed board that oversees all state transportation issues, approved building two lanes with the space for expanding to four lanes, VDOT spokesman Jim Jennings said.
VDOT engineers requested four lanes for the road, claiming the road warranted four lanes due to the expected traffic, Jennings said.
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors approved a four-lane road for their stretch of the Parkway, which will include land in both the city and the county.
However, the Charlottesville City Council insisted on building only two lanes in the design they approved in July.
The CTB "agreed to all of our conditions," Charlottesville Mayor Virginia Daugherty said.
The Parkway now will be under the control of VDOT, but Council still will have influence through the Metropolitan Planning Organization's design committee.
The MPO is federally mandated and includes representatives from the city, county and VDOT.
The design committee, jointly appointed by the city and county, is composed of a planning commissioner and a citizen from the city and county, the planning director from both the city and the county and a VDOT project director, MPO Asst. Director Hannah Twaddell said.
Daugherty said although there already has been significant public debate over the issue, concerns over the Parkway can be taken directly to the design committee.
Daugherty said there are no more Council votes required for the construction of the Parkway.
But City Councilman Blake Caravati, one of the dissenters in Council's 3-2 July vote that approved the Parkway, said it is likely Council will vote on the Parkway's final design.
There is "a good chance we will vote again," he said.
He added that despite voting against the road, he will make every effort to "make it the best road possible" and is not lobbying to vote again on constructing the Parkway.
VDOT estimates the Parkway will cost $22.7 million, Jennings said.
The Parkway will be funded completely through state grants and appropriations. Its earliest construction date is 2001.
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