The vitality of our towns and cities and the health of our countryside are closely linked, so PEC works actively with citizens to promote both. We help people build better communities-great places to live, work and play, with efficient transportation networks, plenty of parks and trails and a healthy balance between city and country. A key strategy is to link land use planning with transportation planning so that thoughtless growth doesn't overwhelm our roads and new road construction doesn't lead to unplanned growth.

Our major achievements in 2009 include transportation solutions that respect the character of rural communities and meet the needs of existing cities, towns and suburbs-instead of big expensive roads that bring more sprawl and more traffic.

This image of downtown Charlottesville by Robert Llewellyn was shown as part of the PEC-sponsored Urban Places, Rural Spaces exhibit. Photo by John Mitchell

Blueprint for the Future of Rt. 29 Improved

What does the future hold for Rt. 29-the main transportation artery through the Piedmont region?

In 2009, VDOT released a preliminary blueprint for the Rt. 29 corridor that was heavy on expensive new roads that wouldn't solve traffic problems and would cause sprawl-including a new four-lane highway running 51 miles through Albemarle, Orange and Culpeper!

PEC mobilized citizen opposition through an email campaign that went viral. Citizen input prompted VDOT to improve the blueprint by removing plans for three unneeded bypass roads:

• A four-lane highway from Keswick to Culpeper, known as Center State or the Eastern Bypass
• Buckland Bypass, on the border of Fauquier and Prince William, which was rejected years ago because of high environmental impact and poor traffic performance
• Part of a bypass around Charlottesville that conflicts with local plans to improve the local street network.
  PEC supports strategic transportation projects that will improve the towns, cities and suburbs where people already live instead of fiscally irresponsible new roads that lead to more sprawl and more traffic.

Highlights

• New roundabouts and other improvements on Rt. 50 are the fruition of a traffic calming project that PEC advocated for 15 years after a community visioning process identified traffic calming as a desirable alternative to four-laning Rt. 50 through rural Loudoun and Fauquier. These design changes improve safety and traffic flow, cost far less than road-widening and enhance the character of the road.
• PEC is spearheading a community visioning process for Rtes. 22/231 through Keswick in Albemarle-a Scenic Byway-which could otherwise be four-laned.
• PEC supports Places 29 in Albemarle and the 29-H-250 study in Charlottesville-plans to improve the local street network and build smart growth communities.
• PEC hosted a forum in Charlottesville on "The Route 29 Solution," with attention to local, state and federal plans.
• PEC co-sponsored a workshop for Fauquier County officials on access management strategies to improve safety on Rt. 29 while preserving rural character.
• PEC is encouraging citizen input on the Loudoun Transportation Plan and advocating that the plan prioritize the needs of existing communities.
• PEC aided citizen opposition to inappropriate new school sites in Loudoun, and helped improve the process for selecting sites-achieving better value, better community involvement and better integration into local plans for growth.
• PEC mobilized citizens in Fauquier to keep the public in public process-opposing a change to allow proffers for approved developments to be amended with no opportunity for public comment.
• PEC collaborated on Urban Places, Rural Spaces, a unique art exhibit celebrating Charlottesville and Albemarle's vibrant urban center and beautiful rural land-the best of both worlds-with a focus on strategies to maintain the balance.

Read more from the 2009 PEC Annual Report >>