TJPDC defers vote on regional bike, pedestrian plan

Members of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission think the updated regional bicycle and pedestrian plan isn’t quite ready to hit the road.

Commissioners on Thursday agreed to defer a vote on the Jefferson Area Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan until some tweaks are made to the final draft.

Although heavily focused on Charlottesville and Albemarle County’s urban ring, the bike-pedestrian plan also includes Greene, Nelson, Fluvanna and Nelson counties. Work on revising the plan, which was last updated in 2004, has been ongoing for more than a year.

“Given that there have been many other plans created since then, and given changes in bicycle and pedestrian planning, it seemed fitting to … create this regional plan, an update of that previous plan with some similar suggestions and many new suggestions and really to provide that guide for implementation,” said Jakob zumFelde, with the TJPDC.

“The plan is about as close to a consensus plan as you’re going to find in the planning world. It’s very sound. … When it’s completed, it’ll provide safe, healthy connections,” said Peter Krebs, of the Piedmont Environmental Council.

After a roughly hour-long discussion, commissioners concluded that a safety plan and educational aspects should be added before the plan is approved.

“I understand that this is asphalt and pavement, totally, but you’ve got to build that in somewhere” said Lisa Green, one of Charlottesville’s two representatives on the commission.

TJPDC staff intends to bring the plan with the additions back to the commissioners at their March meeting.

TJPDC Executive Director Chip Boyles said that once the plan is approved by both the commission and the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization, they then can “lay it in the planning commissions’ staff of each of the localities and then make ourselves available to help them move it forward ever how it fits each locality. Each locality may want to treat it a little bit differently because each locality is different in where they are in their own bike-ped planning.”

More information on the bicycle and pedestrian plan may be found at