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*A CROZET UNITED EXCLUSIVE REPORT*

Albemarle County’s Project Heron - Part 3

We continue to receive positive responses and encouragement to continue our coverage of Project Heron. If you are just starting this story, begin by reading our two previous reports which can be found by clicking Part 1 and Part 2.

In this week’s issue, we will review another one of the most common and most important questions about Project Heron. Please take time to review the bridge design risks that threaten the Eastern Avenue Connector project and use them to inform thoughtful discussions with your neighbors, including at the Crozet Community Advisory Committee (CCAC) which meets this evening at 7:00PM at the Crozet Library.

Your Question:  Why does the length of the Project Heron bridge matter so much?

Our Answer: If the bridge isn’t long enough to meet state and federal floodplain standards, the Eastern Avenue Connector is unlikely to get approved or built. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has cautioned Albemarle County that its current bridge design is too short and that it faces a significant risk of not getting approved.

Background

In the summer of 2021, Albemarle County gave the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) their preliminary design for the Eastern Avenue Connector so that they could perform an independent cost estimate. Crozet United has reviewed the resulting report, which we received from VDOT in response to our FOIA request.

The report shows that VDOT expected the Eastern Avenue Connector to cost $20M, a figure that would naturally grow due to inflation between the date of the estimate (2021) and when construction began, perhaps a full decade later. See the image below for the cover page of the report.

The 25-page report also included a detailed list of the risks and assumptions to VDOT’s cost estimate, raising particular concern about Albemarle County’s plan to use a 260’ bridge to cross Lickinghole Creek which is 180’ short of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) regulatory floodplain. 

VDOT’s report highlighted that a short bridge design posed substantial risk to the Eastern Avenue Connector project cost and timeline.  “It is VDOT Policy to avoid impacts to Regulatory Floodplain to the greatest extent possible,” the report reads, and recommended that the bridge span the entire floodplain, at least until a floodplain study was performed.

VDOT went on to explain that as designed, Albemarle County would need to secure a Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) from FEMA, and that this is “a very long and costly process”.  

For context, getting FEMA to issue a CLOMR shouldn’t be construed as a mere administrative hurdle. A CLOMR sets the stage for FEMA to revise its official flood maps as a result of the Eastern Avenue bridge design: the same maps used to determine whether, and how much, flood insurance that local homeowners need to purchase.

Albemarle County’s preliminary design shows that it plans to build more than half of a football field worth of the Eastern Avenue Connector within the FEMA floodplain on the northside of Lickinghole Creek before joining it to a 260’ bridge. Please refer to the illustration below which Crozet United adapted from one included in Kimley Horn’s previous alignment study.

In a 100-year flood event, the gray colored section of the Eastern Avenue Connector would alter the floodplain itself because it obstructs the natural path of flood waters, thus displacing them to areas where they aren’t expected by FEMA flood maps.

In addition, Albemarle County will need to certify that the bridge design complies with the Endangered Species Act. An artificial change to Lickinghole Creek’s natural water course, wetlands, and floodplain could potentially threaten the habitats of vulnerable species, for instance, the James River spinymussel, which has been found downstream near the confluence of Lickinghole Creek and Mechums River.

The Project Heron Bridge Design

It is important to note that as part of Project Heron, Albemarle County updated its bridge design from the one it submitted to VDOT in 2021. 

The updated design is a particularly important condition to Project Heron: it is one of the key draft deal terms that Riverbend and Albemarle County are discussing. Shown below is an excerpt of a draft term sheet dated October 5, 2023 that Crozet United received in response to a FOIA request.

Crozet United requested a copy of the “Collins Engineering plan” from Albemarle County’s office of Communications and Public Engagement along with several other questions on June 3, 2024. Albemarle County refused to provide that design and stated “we have no further comment on this matter,” in a written reply five days later.

On June 7th, Crozet United submitted a FOIA request to the County requesting those design documents. Virginia Code requires the County to respond to our request by Friday, June 14^th. We will share their response, and hopefully also the current Eastern Avenue Connector design plan with you when, and if, we receive it. 

In the meantime, we strongly encourage everyone to sign up for Wild Virginia’s webinar on June 25 at 6:30pm to learn about the research that is happening right here in Charlottesville in a collaboration with VDOT and what we can do as a Crozet community to protect wildlife corridors in our area. For more information, see the message from Wild Virginia below. [Note: Crozet United is not affiliated with Wild Virginia.]

INVITATION FROM WILD VIRGINIA

Please join Wild Virginia on June 25th at 6:30pm EST for the second Hub Highlights webinar series where we look in-depth at specific projects from Virginia’s Habitat Connectivity Hub. 

In connection with our bear conservation theme this month, we will hear from Virginia Transportation Research Council’s Bridget Donaldson on her safe wildlife road passage research. Bridget is the lead for a total of five projects described on the Hub and has contributed to many others! For this webinar, she will describe the basics and history of the VDOT Carcass Removal Application, the two underpasses designed for wildlife in Virginia, and the I-64 Wildlife Passage Enhancement projects. 

Bridget’s research is essential to advancing Virginia’s Wildlife Corridor Action Plan and reducing wildlife-vehicle conflict. Come learn about these projects in-depth and become a road crossing expert! 

To learn about these projects before the webinar, visit our Hub and navigate to the “State Initiatives” and “Wildlife Crossing Research” Sections!