Preservation Group laments Parkway in park
Preservation Virginia announced Monday, May 18, that McIntire Park has been named to its annual list of Virginia's most endangered sites, due to the already-commenced construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway. Meanwhile, plaintiffs in a lawsuit are back in court Tuesday, May 19, asking for an injunction to stop it.
16 comments
I find it perplexing that the people who go crazy when an innocent tree is about to be killed are the same people who will go crazy to defend a womans right to kill an innocent fetus.
Wow. These are all such thought provoking comments. Sometimes I'm nostalgic for the days when ordinary people had no way to let me know what they were thinking. Sigh.
JR, the difference between this blog and many others is at least this shows some engagement in local issues. Our community will only be as good as we make it and as we've seen on so many issues the City staff and good of the people have not always been the same.
These are some of the most depressing comments I've read in a long time-both cynical and uninformed. You are sadly mistaken if you think building another road is going to relieve any traffic congestion. The idea that building the parkway is "progress" is so out of touch with reality it's shocking. When Charlottesville is super crowded like Fairfax and everyone's quality of life has eroded will that be the "progress" you think you want??? As long as developers get rich it's progress? Oh I get it now....
@yew You are correct! Building a single road will not help to relieve traffic. However, improving the road infrastructure one road at a time is a good start. And Yes, I hope we are never like Fairfax. I also would like to see a moratorium on development. But, we already have too many people on the outdated road system. We have to improve the roads or we will become just like Fairfax. Where it takes an hour to go just 7 miles. Is this what you want? Or, are you just angry because the parkway is in your backyard?
Yew, thank you thank you thank you for your sane comment-- one that is based in reality rather than fantasy.
I'm guessing that most bloated greedy Americans have never read a traffic study in their lives. They have no concept of what makes an area worse to live in, or better. All they know is that they want an immediate fix, regardless of the consequences. The Meadowcreek Parkway being delayed means that the 5 minutes they'd shave off their trek to Lowes or Walmart has been postponed indefinitely. A cheap fast-food restaurant on every corner. Anything they could possibly want immediately within the grasp of their pudgy little fingers. But mostly, they love to pretend that there's no big picture and no negative consequences for anyone down the road. Instead, they whine "Just gimme my flippin' road and do it NOW! I gotta get to Lowes!"
No foresight, no using your brain (thinking's for losers), just gimme results-- even if they're really really bad and will screw the area. THAT'S what progress means to them.
@Reality Check, I take it by your tone that you're not an American! And apparently you have no idea what you are talking about. The so called "bloated greedy Americans" living in the city and county were not the ones that demanded the Parkway. If fact no one demanded it. It is part of City's and County's long term plans to improve the road system, that called for it. Maybe where you grew up people riot to get roads built, but here in the US there is a process that takes years of planning.
The one point that people are ignoring is that the property owners of undeveloped property or underdeveloped property have rights also. They have been paying taxes on land for decades and the government has an obligation to provide roads that are nessasary for these people just as it is nessasary for those who have already built. I wonder how people would feel if the city tore up roads in front of YOUR house and turned them back to gravel with no maintanance?
Like it or not the government has legal obligations to solve traffic congestion and all the whining in the world won't change that.
Please remember people, when Martha Jefferson Hospital moves to Pantops, everyone living to the north and needs emergency transport will need to travel out there - minutes save lives.... Anyone unfortunate enough to have to reach the hospital via Rt 29 during rush hour has to battle traffic just to get to the 250 Bypass - the Meadowcreek Parkway will at least allow a quicker route to the new location.
Its about time they started building what will relieve some of the mess at Hydraulic and 29 ... 20 years to begin building what was needed 20 years ago? It surprises me that all the liberals are against this ... I thought doing nothing was a republican strategy!
"Preservation Group laments Parkway in park"....uh huh, "Rabid Dog Bites Man"....nothing new or surprising to see or read about here. Move along...
The usual group of perpetual grievance mongers against anything to do with progress rattling the cage again. It's good for fundraising. How did these types get tagged with the label "progressive" anyway?
Maple, I've got a compromise. I don't know why someone hasn't thought of it yet. Lets cut down the trees, make some wooden stakes to kill some babies with and make everybody happy. We could even grill some over what's left of the wood for the peace ceremony.
Sue, I retract my statement. You made a thoughtful comment. One out of 5 ain't bad I guess. (go back and review previous comments for context)
McIntire Park's nine hole golf course is exceedingly rare, because of it's topology! What a load of crap. If that's the best they can come up with. I say pave it over. I was hoping the park was home to some rare creatures. They would have been worth saving. But, no, it's not! It's being used as another excuse to limit development by the dinosaurs that can seem to live in the present. Come on people. There is no going back to living like the Cleavers. The area has grown up and so should you!
Here's an idea, cancel the parkway and build park and ride facilities on the outskirts of town. Buy more busses too! All major cities across the U.S. have done this, why not be the first smaller city to do it? The new parkway is a short term solution, charlottesville will have park and ride lots eventually anyway.
Steve-- I'm embarrassed to be an American when I read some of the comments on this site and others. The MCP was supposed to be part of a group of roadways that were a more holistic solution to the traffic problem. It's not a workable solution on its own.
Despite that glaring flaw, and despite the vehement opposition of Mayor Norris and others, people are demanding that it be built anyway. The county is demanding it, and posters on this site are demanding it.
The people that are against it feel that way for very valid reasons based on data, not solely emotions. Yet they are accused of wanting to live like the Cleavers, of being tree-huggers, liberals, killjoys, etc.
The City and County called for a group of roads, and it's lunacy built without the other parts. Additionally, this plan was originally cooked up when we, as a country, were quite a bit dumber about traffic planning. The City and County know this band-aid of a road is a bad idea, but they are bending to big money pressures. Once again, that's because Americans tend to want easy fixes and they think in the short term. They're not willing to put up with minor inconvenience until the right solution is found. Those of us who have spent real time in real cities know that what we face everyday is nothing compared to many other areas. This "solution" will only make things worse in the long run, and take us down the same foolish path those gridlocked cities went down.
I urge you to look at the PBS series Road to the Future, especially the section on Portland Oregon. It's available to view online at pbs.org. It illustrates what happens when people get together and use their noggins to really solve a problem in a long-term fashion, rather than merely stick a band-aid on it and hope for the best.