I now work in Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia and roads that haven't changed much since Thomas Jefferson's day. Fortunately, I work on the west side of town, so I can get home quickly.
Except for today. After work, I decided to go shopping north of town. And ran into the traffic jam that would make northern Virginia proud.
In the same amount of time I could have covered 27 miles of interstate to get to Fishersville, I traveled two miles through the rush hour traffic to U.S. Route 29 north. Me and all the Charlottesville workers. And UVa students heading home for Thanksgiving break.
And it wasn't just a five o'clock nightmare. About 6:15 p.m., the traffic was still backed up getting to 29 North. Cars and truck heading from southern Virginia to the D.C. area.
North of Charlottesville there's a nice stretch of U.S. 29, four lanes going each way. But to get there, it's two lanes from the UVa grounds and the route 29 bypass. City traffic and through traffic combine in a clogged stretch that hasn't been upgraded much since the early 1970s.
Virginia has tried to build another bypass to get trucks and through traffic separate. Charlottesville didn't want it. A new highway would bring more people to their lovely town.
Guess what? People have come anyway. And they're stuck in traffic, wasting gas and time.
Except for us west of town, who usually can quickly escape the mess.
With today's budget woes, the door may have closed for a big traffic improvement north of Charlottesville. At least people will have plenty of time to think about roads they could have had.
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