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Committee debates Route 29 corridor guidance, bike lanes and access management
Summary
Planning commissioners reviewed the transportation chapter, discussed referencing the Route 29 corridor study, access management and frontage roads, and disagreed over "complete streets" and bicycle infrastructure language in the draft plan.
Madison County planning commissioners reviewed the transportation chapter of the comprehensive plan, focusing on Route 29 management, access-control approaches and whether to keep language promoting "complete streets" and bicycle infrastructure in developed areas.
Staff and commissioners agreed the Route 29 corridor study should be referenced in the plan’s appendix and flagged the need to update an older study (the corridor study dates to roughly 2012, participants said). Several commissioners said the plan should call for a review of the Route 29 corridor study as part of the updated comp plan.
A substantive policy issue was whether the plan should discourage designation of Route 29 as a restricted‑access highway or otherwise limit access. Some participants described VDOT’s interest in limiting access and noted restricted access can shift traffic to frontage roads; others said frontage roads and access management have been useful tools on comparable stretches of U.S. 29.
Commissioners also debated a "complete streets" approach for developed areas that would consider sidewalks, paved shoulders or bicycle infrastructure. One participant objected to bike‑lane language as inappropriate for most rural county roads; others said "developed areas" (for example, Crigglersville or Brightwood) could benefit from pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure and that such facilities can support economic activity in town centers.
Staff agreed to correct traffic counts where data are inaccurate, to move some completed projects out of future lists, and to reference the Route 29 corridor study in an appendix. Commissioners asked staff to add language describing scenic byways and the "Journey Through Hallowed Ground" designation where Route 15 is discussed.
Ending: Staff will update the transportation chapter with corrected traffic counts, a Route 29 corridor study reference in the appendix and more precise language about where complete‑streets principles apply.
