Some Albemarle County residents fear the growing number of research parks in the area will lead to increased traffic congestion on Route 29, Albemarle Planning Commission members said yesterday.
"The County is anxious. We are looking at how these parks will affect the community," said Will Rieley, a Planning Commission member.
"The parks are more of a mixed blessing," Rieley said. "It helps the community but will add congestion."
Rodney Thomas, another member of the Planning Commission, said parks could adversely affect Route 29.
"Route 29 is already very congested and the addition of 8,000 or 14,000 employees from a park could create problems," Thomas said.
But Tim Rose, CEO of the U.Va Foundation, the parent corporation for the University's research parks, said the parks will be a positive addition to the community.
"The community is going to grow regardless of these parks," Rose said. "By building these parks we are helping to improve the quality of life."
The Foundation is taking steps to ease traffic congestion in the area, he said.
The Foundation's three research parks - North Fork, Fontaine and Old Blue Ridge, all offer University students contacts for possible job opportunities, he added.
"The MicroAire Surgical Instruments company is using this park to make better equipment. The company is also working with students," Rose said.
Another international company, Pharmaceutical Research Associates, also has a research center at one of the University's parks and provides students with recruitment opportunities, he said.
The research parks can be especially beneficial to students in the Engineering school, said Haydn Wadley, Engineering school associate dean for research.
"They have given our undergraduates and graduates contacts, expanded research programs and helped our graduates obtain well-paying jobs," Wadley said.
The parks also have helped in the University's recruitment of new professors in every school.
"Many universities in our peer group, such as Duke or Princeton, have many research parks that allow for a professor's spouse to have a job. Without these research parks, we may lose potential professors," Rose said.
He added he is confident the parks help the community.
For example, one of the corporations housed in the park visited a class of fifth graders to explain the importance of what they learned in class through a discussion with road engineers and project managers, Rose said.
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