The Albemarle County Planning Commission is developing a new blueprint, the Places29 Plan, which outlines significant changes to the U.S. 29 corridor as part of the county's Comprehensive Plan, designed to facilitate growth, development and change in Albemarle County. If approved, Places29 could impact many citizens' commutes.\nPlaces29 specifically outlines the development of four neighborhoods surrounding the U.S. 29 Corridor in northern Albemarle County, where officials expect a significant amount of future growth. The Places29 plan includes needs for schools, libraries, parks and other community facilities necessary to a growing community.\nJudy Wiegand, senior planner of the Albemarle County Planning Commission, said the plan would preserve rural areas while at the same time making urban areas as attractive as possible.\nThough the county has not allotted a specific amount of funds for the plan, it is expected to cost more than $300 million, said Neil Williamson, executive director of the Free Enterprise Forum, a non-profit organization that analyzes local government policy in Central Virginia.\nWilliamson expressed several concerns about the plan.\n"My primary reservation is that the specific design contemplated doesn't exist anywhere else in the United States," he said. "Beyond that there are no funds available for this utopian plan."\nAdditionally, Williamson predicted the Places29 plan will cause "significant headaches for commuters."\nWiegand said, however, the plan takes into account commuter problems that may arise from construction by providing alternative routes to citizens.\nIn addition to road concerns, Williamson noted that local businesses along U.S. 29 will be heavily impacted as well.\n"The plan as currently contemplated will create a 20-year economic dislocation in the business backbone of Albemarle County," Williamson said, citing the reduced accessibility to local businesses as a direct cause for this disruption. "The transportation design does not adequately address the needs of the business."\nWiegand, though, said while there will be reduced visibility for the businesses near the construction as it progresses, the Virginia Department of Transportation will work with the community to minimize problems as much as possible.\n"Businesses will have plenty of time to adjust, although a few businesses might be bought out," Wiegand said.\nIn the long run, Places29 could give the businesses along the interchanges better visibility and access, Wiegand said.\n"Once the construction is done, everyone will benefit," she said. "People and businesses will have easier access. Once we alleviate some of this congestion, some people who haven't been shopping there might come back."\nNo official date has yet been set for the plan's completion.\n-Kevin Mead contributed to this article
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