The fate of the proposed Meadowcreek Parkway temporarily has been placed in the hands of Attorney General Jerry Kilgore by a bitterly divided Charlottesville City Council.
As candidates begin to emerge for three council positions, the debate over this perennially divisive issue is expected to intensify leading up to the city's May 4 election.
Initially proposed as an extension of McIntire Road in 1967, plans for the Meadowcreek Parkway have progressed through a series of major revisions including a four-lane highway design in 1990 and the current two-lane, 35 mph road which includes provisions for bicycle and pedestrian travel lanes.
In its proposed form, the parkway would connect Rio Road (Rt. 631), to McIntire Road, providing an alternate route to the Downtown Mall from Rt. 29, north of the city.
Recently, debate over the road has centered on the transfer of nine acres from McIntire Park to the Virginia Department of Transportation, which has placed the project on its Six-Year Improvement Program for finance and construction. As part of the transfer, the park would gain 40 acres of adjacent land along McIntire Road to the south of the existing 160-acre property.
"It's a pretty good tradeoff," said Vice Mayor Meredith Richards, who has been a proponent of the parkway.
The sale of public parkland requires approval by 75 percent of Council according to the Virginia Constitution. With Mayor Maurice Cox and Councilor Kevin Lynch against such a transfer, the three members in the majority have considered leasing the land to the commonwealth as an easement, which would not require a "supermajority vote."
The plan to transfer the parkland as an easement has become a controversial proposition, with the majority of Council requesting a non-binding opinion from Kilgore. There is no time frame for a decision from the attorney general, and the project is expected to hang in limbo until the legality of an easement can be established.
In his request for an opinion, City Attorney S. Craig Brown cited Virginia Code which specifies that "the requirement of an affirmative three-fourths vote of Council shall apply only to the sale of the listed properties and not to their franchise, lease or use."
If the city is unable to transfer the land to VDOT, Richards said the project likely would be dropped from the Six-Year plan with earmarked funds going toward road construction in other parts of the commonwealth instead.
With VDOT slated to begin construction on the parkway by 2008, those in opposition to the project have expressed concern that the $26 million, two-mile road will not go far enough toward meeting the city's long-term transportation needs.
"I personally don't think it's a lot of bang for the buck," Lynch said.
Still, Lynch and Cox have stated that they would be in favor of the parkway as part of a larger regional network of road projects, including an Eastern Connector from Rt. 29 to Pantops and a Southern Parkway from Avon Street Extended to Fifth Street.
"It has to be done in the right context," Lynch said.
The necessity of leasing the land to VDOT could become a moot point, however, if a newly elected City Council is able to obtain the required supermajority to sell the land to VDOT.
With the local democratic nomination convention scheduled for Feb. 7, the two dissenting members of Council already have announced their intentions for the upcoming election. Lynch made his reelection bid public on Wednesday and Cox revealed yesterday that he will not be seeking a third term on Council.
Two outside candidates also have made their campaigns public this week, and both have expressed their support of the parkway, though not necessarily of an easement.
Richards, who made an unsuccessful Congressional bid in 2002, is expected to make a decision within the next week.
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