We’re working with a diverse coalition of organizations and communities to envision and implement a comprehensive network of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure that is safe, inclusive, and useful for transportation in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.
Get Involved
Join our Active Mobility Alliance: Add your organization, group, club or business, or yourself to the alliance we’re pulling together. We also have monthly (virtual) meetings to talk about the latest projects and ways to get involved.
Sign up for email alerts: You’ll get notified about upcoming events, advocacy opportunities and other ways to engage.
Join our Greenways Facebook group: Over 1,000 people have joined the group, which provides a space for sharing ideas and information about creating a system of greenways, trails and connections for pedestrians and cyclists in Charlottesville and the urban areas of Albemarle County, Virginia.
Become a PEC member: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, The Piedmont Environmental Council relies on donations to make our work possible. If you are not already a member, please consider joining or making a one-time gift at pecva.org/give.
February 26, 2021: Attend our first-ever Active Mobility Summit (Virtual)
More information
In 2017, PEC and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission received a Strengthening Systems grant from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation to complete plans and generate active community support for a regional bike and pedestrian trail network and begin implementation.
After nearly 2 years of work, an updated version of the Jefferson Area Bike and Pedestrian Plan was finalized in 2019. This document is a guide for listing bicycle and pedestrian projects and encouraging their implementation largely in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County’s urban ring, as well as the planning district’s other localities — Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson counties. It was last updated in 2004.
Focus has since turned to implementing some of the projects listed in the plan and continuing to grow the community of people, organizations, businesses and elected officials who are working to make the vision of a more connected Charlottesville and Albemarle a reality.
A few project highlights:
- We worked with Albemarle County’s Office of Economic Development to include a new pedestrian bridge as part of a historic redevelopment project at Woolen Mills.
- We’re working with homeowners associations to grant land for a trail that would connect Albemarle’s new Biscuit Run Park to a local grocery store and the heart of the city.
- We helped the City of Charlottesville acquire lands for an important new greenway along Moore’s Creek and hundreds of acres adjacent to the Ragged Mountain Natural Area.
- We worked with the Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative to produce a self-guided bike tour of the Charlottesville Mural Project
- We helped plan monthly BikeCville group bike rides (pre-pandemic) as a way to have fun while raising the visibility of cycling, encouraging hesitant cyclists, educating and fostering the region’s advocacy network.
- We hosted a webinar with Angie Schmitt, who is one of the country’s best-known writers and experts on the topic of sustainable transportation. She talked about her book Right of Way: Race, Class and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America.
- We hosted a talk entitled “Walking and Biking Toward Equity”, given by Professor Charles Brown of Rutgers University. Dr. Brown discussed his research into the intersections of race, class, gender, and mobility along with historical perspectives and ideas for moving the community forward.
- In 2017 we held our Greenways Project Kickoff event with guest speaker Chuck Flink – a leading designer of greenway systems who has worked in more than 250 communities around the country.
Learn more about our bike/pedestrian connectivity work in Charlottesville and Albemarle County at pecva.org/cvillegreenways
If you have any questions about this work, please reach out to PEC Community Organizer, Peter Krebs, at pkrebs@pecva.org.