"Recently retired Del. Mitchell Van Yahres and two other prominent Charlottesville residents are promoting an environmentally friendly parkway to parallel U.S. 29 to the west.

Ruckersville Parkway, a “very conceptual” idea according to proponent Gary Okerlund, would repurpose parts of Route 606, Earlysville Road and Hydraulic Road to become a 35- to 40-mph, two-lane alternative to hectic U.S. 29 in Albemarle and Greene counties.

According to Bern Ewert, who came up with the plan, the only parts that would have to be built are a bridge over the U.S. 250 Bypass at the new North Grounds Connector, and a stretch from Route 641 to U.S. 33 in Ruckersville.

The cost for the 16-mile road would be “substantially lower” than the proposed 8-mile western bypass, which is estimated at $350 million, said Ewert, the former Charlottesville deputy city manager who came up with the concept for the pedestrian Downtown Mall with Van Yahres.

The group has not yet determined a formal cost estimate, he said.

Okerlund, a Charlottesville architect, said the parkway’s cost could be 10 percent or 20 percent of the western bypass’ cost per mile, or $70 million to $140 million total.

The Virginia Department of Transportation has estimated the cost of the road, not counting the purchase of right-of-way land, at $2 million a mile, Van Yahres said.

At the moment, the three “volunteers,” as Ewert described the group, have spoken with officials at the University of Virginia, individual Albemarle County supervisors and transportation planners from the region.

Many like the concept of a landscaped parkway that restricts trucks and incorporates bike paths and walking trails, as well as allowing greater access to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, Ewert said.

But Van Yahres noted, “They haven’t bought in.”

The parkway, Ewert said, would require 90 percent less grading than the western bypass and would handle 20,000 cars a day.

Ewert said he believes a right of way for four lanes should be purchased in view of the future, although the road could carry its expected traffic load on two lanes through 2015.

The group has raised a small amount of money for a study and hopes to present a plan to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization by the end of October, Van Yahres said.

But one elected body has been left out of the process: the Greene County Board of Supervisors. All five members learned of the plan during public comment at a meeting last week.

In response, Chairman Steve Catalano said, “Just what we need, Mitch Van Yahres legislating for Greene County.”

Ruckersville Supervisor Jeri Allen said Monday night that she has heard nothing further from the three proponents of the road, which would go through farmland in Greene.

“I still officially don’t know anything about it,” she said. On paper the proposal seems like a good idea because of the large number of Greene residents who work in Albemarle and at UVa.

Allen added that she looks forward to hearing about it at a supervisors meeting in the future but noted that Greene business owners will have to weigh in, given concerns that a road bypassing Ruckersville could hurt business.

Harrison Rue, executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District, said the idea should be considered along with the western bypass and other alternatives in a massive study of the U.S. 29 corridor north of Charlottesville.

The planning district expects to hold a public workshop on the road possibilities in November and refine the choices by February. By April, the group hopes to present the final results of its study to VDOT, Albemarle, Charlottesville and other area officials, Rue said.

In the meantime, Van Yahres said the parkway’s proponents plan to speak with the Greene County supervisors, possibly at their next meeting." (Kate Andrews, The Daily Progress, August 17, 2005)