In a work session today related to the County’s Community Development Work Program, the
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to remove the Ruckersville Parkway project as an option under consideration by the transportation planners working on the Places29 Master Plan
.
This effectively kills the
Ruckersville Parkway proposal
,
put forward last year
by former Delegate Mitch Van Yahres, current 5th District Congressional candidate Bern Ewert, and Gary Okerlund. Since there is no support for the road by the Board of Supervisors, it is also very unlikely there will be any action taken by the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to put this road project on the local priority list. Supervisors David Slutzky (Rio) and Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett) both currently serve on the MPO Policy Board.
The motion to remove the Ruckersville Parkway was made by Ken Boyd (Rivanna) and seconded by David Slutzky. The Parkway had been under consideration as one transportation option for the 29 North corridor.
Previously, Ken Boyd has sought to have the US 29 Western Bypass
included for consideration in this master plan, although that matter was not discussed by the Board today.
In the discussion, Chairman Dennis Rooker stated his personal opinion that, “the Ruckersville Parkway… would never be built. There is no money to ever build a road of that kind. It’s probably at a minimum a $150 million project… It’s a secondary road project, and with our funds at $3.5 million a year [from VDOT for secondary roads] we are never going to build a $100 million secondary road project.”
Brian Wheeler
