The recent widenings and intersection improvement projects along Charlottesville’s Route 29 corridor are already showing dramatic results: according to data obtained from the Albemarle County Police Department, officers responded to 59 crashes in 2014, which was one full year before all construction began — compared to just 25 crashes between July 2017 and July 2018, one full year after construction was completed – VDOT engineer, Joel DeNunzio:
DeNUNZIO: “Because of the widening and the reduction of the grades out there, you can see farther and overall it’s a safer corridor because of that. With all these construction projects, we also upgraded the traffic signals through there. They’re in a much better-coordinated system now that gives us a better idea of how traffic is progressing through the corridor.”
DeNunzio said VDOT’s priority on Route 29 right now is the intersection at Hydraulic Road, where traffic issues continue to plague the area – and VDOT is hoping the data from the other projects will help secure the funding for the work in 2019:
DeNUNZIO: “We saw a significant reduction in crashes at the Rio Road intersection, and I would expect the same if we get funding for what we’re proposing at Hydraulic Road.”