University of Virginia Library

Traffic Troubles

Last Monday night Charlottesville City
Council met once again to discuss the
proposed widening of University Avenue.
Traffic is at all times ridiculously heavy. In
fact, during the rush hours one could
veritably crawl from Rugby Road to the
Corner in less than half the time it would take
to drive the distance.

In order to alleviate this perennial mess,
City Council has, in the past, discussed such
options ranging from building a tunnel under
the existing street, to rerouting the traffic by
Jefferson Park Avenue, to constructing a new
route along the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad
near University Avenue. Last fall, in the midst
of an overwhelming profusion of controversy
surrounding its final plan to widen the
Avenue to four lanes while ridding it of all
parking, Council, possibly out of sheer
frustration, unobtrusively dropped all
discussion and proposals for the time being.

However, in Monday night's meeting City
Council reopened public hearings to discuss
once again the proposal to eliminate on-street
parking, however this time to make way for
only three traffic lanes.

Whether this be labeled planning for the
future, planning for the past or planning for
the time being, one thing is certain–that this
is really no planning at all. In the Monday
night proposal presented to Council no
mention was given to off-street parking lots as
replacements for the present on-street
parking. Although this might be looked upon
lightly as just typical of contemporary
"planning" in general, it is a very serious
concern to Corner shops affected by the
probable resulting loss in business.

According to City Traffic Engineer Hugo
Malanga, the plan's purpose is to discourage
traffic in the area since as Council member
George Gilliam pointed out, a good deal of
the traffic around the Corner now is merely
"people traveling around trying to find a
parking space." What reasoning! Imagine then
if you will the traffic about the Corner if
present parking is sliced in half.

We have yet to be convinced by those
amblyopic cogitators down at City Hall that
they have discovered a realistic plan for any
of our present or future traffic worries. Every
plan they have tried to push through, as with
the present one, has been proven not only
inadequate but also a further source of
problems itself. Let's not make this just another
"solution" we will all ultimately regret.