February 3, 2025: Afton Express will be fare-free tomorrow to honor Civil Rights legacy of Rosa Parks
Plus: The Hatton Ferry has taken its last passenger across the James River
The first Monday of February is the sixth of 2025. Perhaps there is nothing remarkable about this fact but it is a true statement. It is also true that this is the latest day that gets to be called February 3 and there will be another in 365 rotational periods. This newsletter is called Charlottesville Community Engagement and most of the stories you read here will also be posted to a website called Information Charlottesville. I’m Sean Tubbs, but which one?
In today’s installment:
Work soon to begin on Old Ivy Road Bridge in Albemarle County
The Albemarle Charlottesville Historic Society has decided to discontinue operations of the Hatton Ferry
A commuter bus between Staunton and Charlottesville will be fare-free tomorrow to mark the birthday of Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks
The U.S. Department of Transportation has changed the name of a federal grant program and updates policies to reflect policies to remove references to climate change and social equity
A look at various bills related to housing affordability that are still alive in the Virginia General Assembly as Crossover Day approaches
City Manager Sam Sanders hints at rising cost of a major water infrastructure project
First shout-out: Plant Virginia Natives
The snow has finally melted but it’s still not quite time to plant for spring. But, this is the time to plan and you can take some time to get ready for spring! Check out Plant Virginia Natives!
Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore. Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens.
Plant Northern Piedmont Natives is for anyone who works with native plants, whether you are a property owner, private consultant, landscape designer, nursery operator, conservation group, or local government.
VDOT: Old Ivy Road Bridge replacement to begin on February 17
Motorists who use a congested roadway in Albemarle County’s urban ring may face new challenges in the near future as a contractor begins work on behalf of the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The Caton Construction Group will start work on February 17 to replace a bridge that carries Old Ivy Road over the U.S. 29 / 250 bypass. The structure was built in 19651 and carries 8,000 vehicles a day. The replacement will mean various detours for the $3.9 million project.
“This project will replace the bridge deck and beams and rehabilitate the bridge piers,” reads a press release sent out this afternoon by VDOT. “The new structure will be raised slightly to provide more vertical clearance for vehicles on U.S. 29/250 traveling under the bridge.”
Anyone wanting to go west on Old Ivy Road will have to detour north onto U.S. 29 / 250 and turn around at the Barracks Road exit to return back to Old Ivy Road, which is also designated Route 601. This detour is expected to be in place through the fall of 2026 when the project is expected to be completed.
Caton Construction will also close U.S. 29 / 250 to traffic at night at several points while work is being done. These will be done on an as-needed basis.
Historic Hatton Ferry to be decommissioned
A historic ferry that carries vehicles across the James River between Albemarle County and Buckingham County may have taken its last journey.
The Board of Directors for the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society voted to decommission the Hatton Ferry which they have operated since 2010 since taking it over from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Here’s a story I wrote back in 2009.
Ted Coates, a member of the ACHS Board, said the closure has been considered for a while due to funding and operational issues.
“Although the ferry was only able to operate 12 to 20 days a year due to low water, safety issues with the cable system and the vessel itself continued year round,” Coates said in an email announcement on January 18.
Coates said the ACHS had been exploring the idea of a small vehicle that would allow the ferry to operate more frequently in low water.
“We also approached local organizations to see if one might be interested in taking over the ferry,” Coates said.
The ACHS will be holding a public meeting on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at 5 p.m. at the Scottsville Town Hall to explain the decision and discuss the future of the sites.
To learn more about the Hatton Ferry, Hawes Spencer has this story behind a paywall in the Charlottesville Daily Progress. Or take a look at this 2022 video produced by filmmaker Lorenzo Dickerson.
Afton Express offering free rides Tuesday to honor Rosa Parks
A commuter bus line that takes people between Staunton and Charlottesville will honor Black History Month on Tuesday by offering free rides. The Afton Express usually costs three dollars in each direction.
“This day of action honors activist Rosa Parks and highlights the importance of equity in public transportation,” reads a scrolling message on the top of the service’s website.
The Afton Express is operated by BRITE Transit, a service of the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission. The commuter route launched in September 2021 and had a ridership of 16,482 people in 2023 according to that year’s annual report.
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born on February 4, 1913 and an important figure in the Civil Rights movement. Her role in desegregating the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama led to legal victories but she was also fired from a job and was the subject of death threats.
Transit agencies all across the country are commemorating Rosa Parks on her birthday, such as the Maryland Transit Administration.
“Parks changed history on December 1, 1955, when she defied local law and refused to give up her seat to a White passenger on a segregated public transit bus,” reads an MTA webpage on transit equity day. “Her subsequent arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and legal challenges to the segregation law which was eventually ruled unconstitutional in November 1956.”
While services in Maryland are free on Tuesday, some other agencies will offer the free fare day on February 10. That’s the case for Hampton Roads Transit.
“HRT is committed to treating all customers with dignity with the best possible transit experience every day, to every customer,” said William E. Harrell, President and CEO of HRT. “By continuing to offer free fares on this special day for the fourth straight year, we honor the lasting legacy of Rosa Parks and how her courageous act continues to impact transit agencies around the nation.”
Sean Duffy, the new secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, was sworn into office last week and immediately got to work implementing President Donald Trump’s executive orders to eliminate all references to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“The Secretary signed the ‘Woke Rescission’ Memorandum, directing Secretarial Officers and Heads of Operating Administrations to identify and eliminate all Biden-era programs, policies, activities, rules, and orders that promote climate change activism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, racial equity, gender identity policies, environmental justice, and other partisan objectives,” reads a press release from January 29, 2025.
The memo eliminated the U.S. Department of Transportation Equity Council. As of publication time, the website is still active. As reported on January 31, Duffy also released a memo suggesting that transportation funding be prioritized for communities with higher birth and marriage rates.
RAISE no more; Trump administration changes grant program name to BUILD
The administration of President Donald Trump has renamed a grant program for transportation projects, according to a recently amended notice.
What had been the Rebuilding Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program is now the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program. The program began in the late 2000’s as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program before being renamed to BUILD in the first Trump administration.
The amendment to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) also removes references to executive orders rescinded by Trump as well as new ones issued that require removal of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The definition of “Historically Disadvantaged Communities” is now to be the exact same definition of Areas of Persistent Poverty.
The amendment also reduces the amount available in the current fiscal year from $1.5 billion to $150 million. Projects that seek to convert bus fleets to zero emissions are no longer eligible for funding.
Albemarle County was awarded just over $2 million in FY2022 for planning for the Three Notched Trail.
“This planning project is intended to provide a guiding document that Albemarle County can use to develop a shared use path that provides a multimodal connection between the City of Charlottesville, the community of Crozet, and the communities and recreational and tourism resources of Western Albemarle and Nelson County,” reads the description in a database of awarded projects.
Albemarle County announced in January that the firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB) has been selected to develop a master plan. (read that story)
Another project funded in part through RAISE is one to expand capacity of Long Bridge over the Potomac River. The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority secured $20 million in federal funds and ground was broken last fall.
For more on how this affects a portion of Wisconsin, take a look at this post on the website Urban Milwaukee.
Sponsored message: Buy Local
Buying locally supports our neighbors and community members and makes a big impact for our local economy. Local businesses are more likely to reinvest in our community and their goods and services contribute to the unique character of our community.
Learn more about how you can support local business at ShowLocalLove.org and on social media:
Virginia General Assembly nears second half with approach of Crossover Day
The United States of America has many levels of government and they all fit together one way or another. While attention continues on sweeping changes at the federal level and localities contend with budget preparation, the Virginia General Assembly continues to do its part toward updating laws.
This newsletter mostly focuses on six local governments with a primary focus on Charlottesville with Albemarle County right behind. But after years of doing this work, I push myself to understand even more. That has meant the occasional story about what’s happening with the legislative session underway.
However, there is no ability to stop the world so I can catch up, so I have to take snapshots of where things are at key points before them. February 4 is one of those as it Crossover Day. That is when bills have to have passed one Chamber in order to be considered by the other.
As of 7 a.m. this morning, a total of 435 pieces of legislation have passed one of the two chambers and 1,894 bills are still pending. A total of 617 bills have “failed” one way or another.
Here is the status of several bills related to affordable housing.
SB1313 from Senator Jeremy McPike (D-29) would amend state code to allow any locality to create affordable housing requirements and expand some of the powers available to cities and counties. Some places are currently blocked from doing so. The Senate Committee on Local Government reported this out on an 8 to 6 vote with one abstention. The full Senate voted 20 to 19 to approve the bill with one Senator not voting.
HB2245 from Delegate Katrina Callsen (D-54) would require real estate assessors to use an alternate method to calculate assessments for affordable housing projects. Assessments would be based on how much income the property generates, which would provide a lower value and be an incentive for keeping projects affordable. This made was reported from the House Finance Committee on a 15 to 7 vote and is waiting a third reading.
SB832 from Senator Mamie Locke (D-23) would create a rental assistance voucher program. This made it out of the General Laws and Technology Committee on a 9 to 4 vote on January 15. An impact statement found that three employees would need to be hired to administer the program at a cost of $359,000 a year. The bill is waiting action in the Finance and Appropriation Committee which meets Tuesday at 9 a.m.
HB1879 from Delegate Briana Sewell (D-25) is the House version of SB832. The Housing/Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the General Laws Committee voted it out 6 to 2 on January 23. Five days later the full General Laws committee voted 13 to 9 to report the bill out and to assign it to the Appropriations Committee. That group was to have meet today but the meeting was canceled.
HB1973 from Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-5) would allow localities to pass an ordinance requiring a right of first refusal for any property that has been funded with public money. The “Preservation of Affordable Housing” Bill was reported out of the House General Laws Committee on a 12 to 9 vote on January 3 and is waiting a vote in the full House.
HB2149 from Delegate Betsy Carr (D-78) would create the “Zoning for Housing Production Pilot Program” which would provide funding to localities who change their zoning to allow for by-right development of affordable housing and mixed-income housing projects. This made it out of the House Appropriations Committee on a 15 to 6 vote on January 29 and is waiting a vote in the full House.
HB2128 from Delegate Wendell Walker (R-52) would expand the authority localities have to impose civil penalties for derelict buildings. Under this legislation, the definition would be extended to non-residential properties. This passed the House 86 to 11 on January 23 and is before the Senate Committee on Local Government.
Here are some other bills of note:
HB2438 from Delegate Candi Mundon King would require localities to permit ground-mounted solar energy facilities on agricultural, commercial, or industrial land if they meet the criteria in an ordinance. This passed the House of Delegates on a 48 to 46 vote with six abstentions.
HB2096 from Delegate Patrick Hope (D-1) would create the Intelligent Speed Assistance Program as an alternative punishment for those convicted of reckless driving for driving over 100 miles per hour. Such drivers would install a system to cap their speed. This passed the House of Delegates on a 81 to 16 vote.
HB2080 from Delegate Terry Austin (R-37) would eliminate the need to put decals on license plates stating when the year and month when registration requires. This passed on a 96 to 1 vote with Delegate Amy Laufer (R-55) being the lone vote against.
More tomorrow. What legislation are you interested in learning more about? Drop me a line in the comments.
City Manager report: Central Water Line may be more expensive
When Michael C. Rogers became Charlottesville’s interim city manager three years ago, he soon began a practice of providing a written report about what’s happening in City Hall. Sam Sanders has been in the position since August 2023 and continued the practice.
Sanders serves on the Charlottesville Regional Airport Authority as well as Albemarle executive Jeffrey Richardson. They were joined in January by Pace Lochte as the third member. Lochte is Assistant Vice President for Economic Development at the University of Virginia. Sanders reported on traffic to one American city.
“The United flight to Chicago that started August 2023 has increased frequency due to exceptional performance with its return to our market using a larger aircraft with first class seats,” Sanders wrote in the report. “A second flight with the same larger aircraft to Chicago began in April 2024. A 3rd flight is scheduled to begin service in March with additional first-class service on a smaller, but more spacious aircraft.”
Sanders also sits on the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, an organization that is planning on building a new waterline through central Charlottesville.
“The Central Water Line project has significant escalation in budget with a new realized need to bury the line deeper [than] existing city services to avoid any unintended impacts to either infrastructure,” Sanders wrote.
According to the RWSA’s agenda for the January 28 meeting, the construction for the $47 million project is expected to begin in June and run through March 2029. Work will be split into two phases and bids for the first phase have been delayed to address comments from Charlottesville officials.
Another federal program to watch is a Clean School Bus Rebate program offered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The application window for rebates closed on January 14.
“If successful, this will provide funding support for the purchase of two additional electric school buses, expanding the electric school bus pilot to a total of four buses,” writes Kristel Riddervold, the director of the city’s office of sustainability.
That website has so far not been updated.
Riddervold said Charlottesville has also applied to once again participate in the federal Center for Heat Resilient Communities program. In 2021, Charlottesville helped provide data to something called the National Integrated Heat Health System. According to one of my stories from February 2022, thirteen volunteers took 34,401 measurements across the city on August 24, 2021, walking seven routes.
“The application contemplates the formation of a Charlottesville-specific heat working group and included letters of support for this effort from the Office of Emergency Management, Risk
Management, the Department of Human Services, the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, the Blue Ridge Health District, the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless, and the Local Energy Alliance Program,” Riddervold wrote.
So far, the website for the program still exists.
Reading material for #805
Albemarle County opens health and wellness clinic for employees, Mark Gad, CBS19 News, January 31, 2025
UVA Health, VCU Health halt gender-affirming treatments for minors, Kate Andrews, Virginia Business (paywall), January 31, 2025
DOT says it will tie funding to birth, marriage rates, Zachary Phillips, Construction Dive, January 31, 2025
'There's blood on the hands': Outrage after UVa halts gender-affirming care for trans youth, Dmitry Martirosov, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), February 1, 2025
U.Va. Health launches Center for Smell and Taste, Saumya Sharma, Cavalier Daily, February 2, 2025
Albemarle County GOP selects new chairwoman, Dmitry Martirosov, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), February 2 2025
Contractors scramble to stay on top of Trump’s new policies, Julie Strupp, Construction Dive, February 3, 2025
So far, so so, #805
Every day I wake up and I’m not sure what I’ll write. Every day there’s something that comes out. Almost five years have passed since the enormity of the pandemic led me to get back to reporting in the hopes of feeling like I could be useful doing something.
A somewhat known fact about me is that I became a journalist to feel like I belonged in a country to which many might argue I do not belong because I am the son of immigrants. My family lived in the Chicago suburbs for a while before moving to Campbell County when I was six. Growing up, I was mostly dismissed as a weird kid who didn’t really get along with anyone.
Over four decades later, I spend almost all of my time doing this work, trying to make sense of a great number of inputs so I can output as much information as possible. Since the pandemic, I’ve put this work first and I’m making a living at it. While I wake up every day not sure if I can do the work, I always get to these end notes which are almost always the last thing I write before you see it.
This is not a traditional news source. I was trained to never use the word “I” in stories but I’ve given that up as I’ve made adjustments. I want people to know why I make the editorial decisions I make. I want people to know I’m still trying to figure out where my parents brought me. They didn’t assimilate and I’ve always felt like an outsider.
Yet, I spend seven days a week doing this work because I need to make sense of things. I’m aware that I might not ever do that, but the practice of putting out one newsletter after the other helps me at least have a working sense of what’s happening.
If you made it to the end, I appreciate it. If you made it this far, you like details. You also know that I’m not here to say what should happen, but to report as much as I can on what is happening. The world changes every day but my hope is to keep doing this work. I thank those supporting the work. With your support, I’ll keep figuring out ways to do the work better.
I have a question which you may have covered. What are they building on Rio Rd. west of Rt. 29? What type of housing?