The Western Bypass just north of Charlottesville was a $200-500 million road project that even VDOT studies showed wouldn’t relieve congestion on 29 North. All the same, proponents pushed hard to get the road built.</p
Nobody doubts the need to fix traffic problems on Route 29. But the proposed $250 million Western Bypass is not the answer—nor is it a done deal. View this video produced by The Southern Environmental Law Center to learn about more cost-effective alternatives that would provide greater benefits to the Charlottesville-Albemarle community.
PEC's Charlottesville & Albemarle Field Officer, Jeff Werner, has been struggling for many years with how to explain the issues surrounding the proposed Rt. 29 Western Bypass. He decided to give drawing a shot.
At their June meeting, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors voted 4-2 to reverse the County's long-held opposition to the Western Bypass–a $250-350 million project that VDOT studies have shown would not reduce traffic congestion on Rt. 29 North
VDOT gave plans for the Charlottesville Western Bypass an F. So why spend half a billion dollars on it?
That's the question that PEC posed to Charlottesville and Albemarle residents though ads in local papers and a mailing that we sent to 15,000 homes — part of our full-on campaign to stop this wasteful bypass from moving forward ahead of better alternatives.