"The construction of the Hillsdale Drive connector road, which will provide drivers with an alternative to U.S. 29, has been delayed for several years because of the drop in state funding for local transportation projects.

The state is not scheduled to give Charlottesville any new money for the $30.5 million, 1-mile road until 2014, transportation officials said. The city was hopeful that work on the road, running from north of Greenbrier Drive through the Seminole Square shopping center to Hydraulic Road, could begin within two years.

“It’s something that needs to get done but the money just isn’t in the pipeline,” said John J. “Butch” Davies III, the area’s representative on the Common-wealth Transportation Board.

The city is still plowing ahead with the road’s design and is set to unveil a plan sometime this fall, with the City Council possibly approving it by the end of the year.

The Hillsdale Drive Extension will provide residents with greater access to the shopping center and help alleviate congestion on U.S. 29, officials contend. Additionally, it will supply neighbors with a direct route to the nearby grocery stores, shops and movie theater, and will help spur development in the corridor.

“It will generate a lot of local trips and serve people so that they do not have to go on 29,” said Angela Tucker, a member of the city planning staff.

The new road is slated to include bike lanes, traffic-calming measures and elevated crosswalks to ensure people, especially seniors living nearby, can get to the shopping center without having to get into a car.

“Most feel the design could enhance safety for drivers and pedestrians, so it is disappointing that it is not proceeding,” said Peter Thompson, executive director of the Senior Center, which would be adjacent to the new road.

The state has already given Charlottesville $3.1 million to pay for the design and engineering costs of the road.

Two years ago the Virginia Department of Transpor-tation’s six-year plan stated that the city would have an additional $2 million for the project by 2011. But now there is no money in the pipeline until 2014, when the state is scheduled to provide $332,000.

“We have had a significant downturn in the amount of revenue available for construction, which has affected all projects,” said Lou Hatter, a VDOT spokesman.

Officials estimate that it could cost another $18.6 million to purchase right-of-ways and relocate utilities. The road would run past the post office and Pepsi plant and then bisect the shopping center, requiring the acquisition of private property.

The city is hoping that most of the property owners would donate the right-of-ways, significantly decreasing the cost of the project. While officials are optimistic that this will happen, no agreements have been inked.

“To make this project work, there really has to be a donation of the right-of-ways, otherwise the cost would be astronomical,” Hatter said.

But even if the city did not have to pay a dime for the right-of-ways, it would still need at least $8.8 million to cover construction costs. Whole Foods will chip in some money when it opens a store off Hydraulic Road, but it is not clear if any other private funds can be tapped.

For now, officials and residents are resigned to the fact that no state funding will be arriving in the near future.

“I’m disappointed because we’re still in the same situation of not having an adequate transport funding plan,” said Rick Seaman, who sits on the project’s steering committee. “Not only is the current infrastructure deteriorating, but all these new things we would like to do are not getting done.”" (Seth Rosen, The Daily Progress, May 12, 2008)