The Charlottesville-Albemarle Transportation Coalition (CATCO) is a citizen group formed in 1988 to respond to proposed improvements to the local Rt 29 corridor. Their objective was the development of real solutions to emerging congestion problems. Their work included opposition to the Western Bypass, specifically after it was elevated as a priority ahead of previously agreed upon, more effective solutions. The CATCO Green Book summarizes these efforts through 2000. It provides an invaluable digest and summary of the genesis of the Western Bypass and why this community has long opposed it.
PEC
The Problem with the Outer Beltway
The Outer Beltway, and its component parts the Bi-County Parkway and 6-laned Northstar Blvd, is a bad deal for the residents of Prince William and Loudoun County. It’s also a bad deal for people who live in counties and cities to the east and west, as well as Virginia taxpayers as a whole.
Discovering Local Food
In my role as the Buy Fresh Buy Local Coordinator for The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), local food is an everyday topic of conversation. From broader discussions on how to encourage larger institutions to purchase locally or how to make the food distribution system more efficient, to quick conversations with farmers about a new ethnic vegetable variety or gourmet garlic — Buy Fresh Buy Local is all about strengthening our local food system so that it supports farmers and consumers alike.
Army Corps & EPA Call Out Flaws in Western Bypass Review
[12/17/12] This has not been a good few weeks for those pushing the Rt. 29 Western Bypass. In late November, a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency was made public that calls into question the draft Environmental Assessment prepared by VDOT. And just last week, a letter from the Army Corps of Engineers came to light, which says:
New Year, Familiar Problem
We continue to believe this is the most important land use decision that will be made in northern Virginia in the next 5 years. The Outer Beltway would open up ~100,000 acres of relatively open land in eastern Loudoun and the Prince William "rural crescent" to development, cut through a National Park, make investments in metro and transit-oriented development more difficult to fund, and at the end of the day, is very likely to make traffic on east-to-west roads like Rt. 50 and Rt. 66 even worse. This text is from a January 6th Email alert.
The Bill Backer Legacy Society
Help secure the future of the Piedmont through a Charitable Bequest.
The Curse of the Yellow Powder
Is it possible to restore a landscape damaged by uranium? Ask the Navajo in New Mexico.
Gov. McDonnell’s Uranium Mining Group: Putting the Cart Before the Horse
In 2007, Virginia Uranium, LLC, (VUI) began lobbying hard for the General Assembly’s standing moratorium on uranium mining and milling to be lifted. The corporation has big plans to start a mining and milling operation in Pittsylvania County, and PEC and our allies have fought them every step of the way. There is simply too much at stake. Uranium mining and milling in Virginia would be an extremely dangerous experiment. In the United States, uranium has only been mined in arid regions— where low rainfall makes it more feasible to contain the radioactive and toxic mining waste. Virginia is anything but arid.
Changing Perspectives: My time as a PEC Fellow
PEC’s Fellowship Program, which just finished its sixth year, gives college and graduate students a comprehensive look at the work PEC does in this region—with the hope that the participants will take what they learn in the program into their future careers and communities.
After a Town is Buried, Controversy Still Rages
In Colorado and Virginia residents debate whether proposed uranium mills will help or hinder their economies.