Western Bypass rendering, courtesy Charlottesville Tomorrow

It seems that the Western Bypass may actually be built.

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that the contract to build the Western Bypass has been awarded.

Is this the right road? Probably not. It needs to go farther up 29 North rather than dump into the middle of the growth area – you know, to actually bypass the mess – but it won’t, because of our region’s collective inability to do anything with infrastructure efficiency.

So, we’ll get a sort-of-bypass.

Lynchburg has been advocating for the Bypass for decades, but their representative fairly well sums up the state of affairs:

Lynchburg’s representative on the CTB said it was time to move forward with the contract. “This is the plan, this is as good as we got, [and] this is as good as it’s going to get,” said Mark Peake. “This is far from being a road to nowhere. This is a road from North Carolina to Washington, D.C.”

And so we move. Forward?

For background, see Charlottesville Tomorrow’s incomparable coverage:

– Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Western Bypass section.

– The Western Bypass on Cvillepedia

Keep in mind that the Western Bypass is but one piece of the changes coming to 29. Also:

– The Best Buy ramp/interchange is going to be altered (I hesitate to say “improved”.)

The project includes an additional southbound lane on U.S. 29 from Hydraulic Road to the interchange, an extra lane on the interchange ramp at Best Buy and an added acceleration lane on the 250 Bypass from the interchange to the Barracks Road exit.

– And the intersection at Stonefield is getting a stoplight.

The geographical segmentation of Charlottesville-Albemarle continues.