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On July 13th a citizen meeting on the future of the Rt. 29 corridor was held at the Albemarle County Office Building. The meeting was sponsored by PEC, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the Virginia Conservation Network. Charlottesville Tomorrow was the at meeting and recorded the audio from it. Listen to the meeting.

Creative Solutions for Rt. 29
Charlottesville and Albemarle have been working with the community on solutions to Route 29 traffic, focusing on creating a local street network, mixed-use walkable development, appropriately scaled interchanges, and transit. The innovative solutions under consideration could reduce traffic, create more transportation options and greatly improve this important gateway corridor.

Federal Funding?
But these solutions would greatly benefit from federal and state support. Although the stimulus money has been allocated, almost no money was assigned to our communities. The good news is that we have a second chance. The federal transportation bill is being crafted right now, and we have the chance to shape policies and win funding for groundbreaking projects like our Route 29 proposal.Congressman Tom Perriello has been invited. He is the only Virginia representative on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee charged with crafting the federal transportation reauthorization bill.

Join us for an update on Route 29 planning both for the Charlottesville-Albemarle region and the entire Route 29 corridor. Is there an interstate in our future, or a highway that retains its rural character because we’ve employed a range of creative solutions? We hope to see you at this informative meeting next Monday.

AGENDA:

5:30 Refreshments and networking

6:00 Welcome and presentation about Transportation for America -- Stewart Schwartz, Coalition for Smarter Growth

6:15 Update on the Route 29 Project

6:45 Update on Route 29 Corridor Study – VDOT Representative (invited)

6:55 Remarks by Congressman Perriello (invited) and Albemarle Supervisor Dennis Rooker

7:10 Question and Answer with Panel -- moderated by Stewart Schwartz

8:00 Adjourn

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