Albemarle County & the City of Charlottesville

The staff in PEC's Charlottesville office works with citizens to solve the many land use and conservation challenges facing the Charlottesville and Albemarle area.

Take Action: Make Free Bridge Lane Permanently Car-free

Posted on by Peter Krebs
The Free Bridge Lane storywalk is just one of the quick improvements to pop up on Free Bridge Lane. You can share your ideas here. Photo by Peter Krebs/PEC.

Late last year, Albemarle County closed Free Bridge Lane to automobile traffic, creating a safe, riverside space for walking, running, and biking. At its August 6 meeting, the Board of Supervisors will get a report and begin discussing making the arrangement permanent.

Free Bridge Lane meets a critical need in our community: it is ideal for novices and people with mobility challenges and it is walking distance from multiple neighborhoods in both the City and the County. It provides the kind of everyday access to nature that we talk about all the time.

Please sign PEC’s petition requesting the following: 1) finalize the road closure, 2) fund and build a first wave of safety, access and environmental improvements, and 3) budget in coming years to construct the proposed promenade. We will forward the petition to County leaders when the time comes.

You can share your ideas for improvements, projects, activities, or events for Free Bridge Lane or contact the Board of Supervisors directly to thank them for the trial and urge them to expand it.

Sign the Petition
A Conversation on Trails and Connectivity

A Conversation on Trails and Connectivity

Posted on by Meredith Ogilvie-Thompson

While conserving the verdant landscapes of Virginia’s Piedmont is foundational to The Piedmont Environmental Council’s mission, making the outdoors accessible to everyone has become an equally vital goal. Over the past few years, we have deliberately integrated trail development into our broader conservation mission, protecting strategic properties that can serve as trail corridors or public access points to create lasting places and ways for people to experience the Piedmont’s natural beauty firsthand.