DAVID S. EKERN, P.E.
COMMISSIONER
December 1, 2008
ROUTE: McIntire Road Extended
PPMS: 2529
COUNTY: City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County
VDHR FILE: 1993-2606
Ms. Kathleen S. Kilpatrick, Director
Attn.: Mr. Marc Holma, Resource Services and Review Division
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23221
Dear Ms. Kilpatrick:
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is planning construction of McIntire Road Extended in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County. The proposed project involves the construction of two 11-foot travel lanes, two 5-foot bike lanes and a 10-foot-wide enhanced pedestrian trail on new alignment (see enclosed plans). This new roadway begins 775 feet north of the Route 250 Bypass and runs north about 2100 feet to intersect with Melbourne Road. The City of Charlottesville is currently in the process of planning a separate interchange project at the intersection of the Route 250 Bypass and McIntire Road, which will connect the Mclntire Road Extended project to the Bypass.
This state-funded project's impacts to non-tidal waters and wetlands will likely require a State Program General Permit (SPGP) from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which the USACE has determined is a federal undertaking. The VDOT, on behalf of the Norfolk District USACE, is coordinating this project with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (1966, as amended) and its implementing regulations, 36 CFR Part 800. The purpose of this letter is to seek your concurrence with the VDOT's determination of the Area of Potential Effect (APE) for the undertaking, our identification of historic properties within the APE and our efforts to solicit public involvement through the identification of consulting parties to the Section 106 process.
Project History
The current McIntire Road Extended project is part of a more than 40-year effort by the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County to improve access to downtown Charlottesville and reduce congestion on Route 29 North. The Project was first initiated in spring 1968, when the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County endorsed its inclusion in VDOT's Major Arterial Street and Highway Plan. Charlottesville's Comprehensive Plan of 1975 reflected the City's continued desire to pursue the project by reserving a corridor through McIntire Park for the road.
The project would eventually undergo five major phases of preliminary engineering. Location selection for what was then a state-funded project began in earnest in June 1979, when the City and the VDOT held a Location Public Hearing. In November 1979, the City approved the proposed location. The southern terminus of the project at that time was Preston Avenue, roughly 0.8 mile south of its present terminus, but the section of the proposed road between the Route 250 Bypass and Melbourne Road generally followed the present alignment.
Planning for the project slowed for several years, apparently over design and funding issues, but in 1983 federal funding was made available for the project. The VDOT and the City updated the public on the project's status at a public hearing in April 1985. Another public hearing was hosted by VDOT and the City in October of that year to provide the public with an opportunity to review the three build and one no-build alternatives for the project, the southern terminus of which was still Preston Avenue. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was approved by the FHWA in December 1985, enabling the FHWA and VDOT to hold a Location Public Hearing in March 1986. Four alternatives were considered in the Draft EIS, one of which, Alternative B, avoided McIntire Park north of Route 250. The City adopted a resolution in June 1986 stating that Alternative B was not a viable route for the road, but shortly after the 1986 public hearing the project stalled again because of City concerns about traffic impacts to the downtown area and the pending resolution of a proposed Route 29 Bypass alignment.
A third major effort at preliminary engineering began in February 1992 with a joint proclamation issued by the City and County calling for construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway, which included the McIntire Road Extended Project, as soon as funding was available. Later that year, the proposed southern terminus of the project was changed from Preston Avenue to the Route 250 Bypass. The FHWA subsequently approved a re-evaluation of the Draft EIS in February 1994, and the FHWA and VDOT held another Location Public Hearing in April of that year.
A total of six alternatives, including a No-Build alternative were considered at the April 1994 public hearing. Alternative A, essentially the present alignment, included an at-grade intersection with Rte. 250. Office Revision A was designed to avoid the Charlottesville High School ball fields. Alternative B began at Rte. 250 450 ft. south of the existing McIntire Road intersection and ran east of Schenk's Branch, avoiding McIntire Park. Alternative D was similar to Alternative A, but with a grade separated diamond interchange at Rte. 250, providing vertical separation of north and southbound lanes. Finally, the FHWA and VDOT considered Traffic System Management, which consisted of adding low-cost transportation improvements to the no-build alternative. The majority of the comments received supported Alternative A. There was no support for Alternative B. The City and County endorsed Alternative A, which was approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) in September 1994. Early the next year, FHWA downgraded the NEPA document type being prepared for the project to an Environmental Assessment (EA), commensurate with the project's anticipated impacts.
Although the FHWA issued a Final EA and Finding of No Significant Impact for the project in April 1995, project funding for right of way and construction had been changed earlier that year back to state funds. In October 1995, the project finally moved beyond the location study stage when the CTB issued a contract to a consultant for development of right of way and construction plans. At that time the road was proposed as a four-lane, divided highway with an at-grade intersection at the Route 250 Bypass. Over the next few years, however, the design was modified to conform more closely to a "parkway model" developed by the City's landscape architect responsible for the update of the master plan for McIntire Park. Following a design public hearing in May 1999, the project was changed at the City's request to a two-lane highway on a four-lane right of way. The project was modified again at the City's request in December 2000 to reduce the right of way to two lanes. At this time the City also proposed the separate project for a grade-separated interchange at the intersection of Route 250 Bypass and McIntire Road, which the City has subsequently administered.
Previous Cultural Resources Coordination
The current McIntire Road Extended project has a long history of cultural resources coordination. Identification efforts began with a 1985 Phase I cultural resources survey conducted along various alternatives that were under consideration for the Meadowcreek Parkway project [1]. The current project corridor was considered a portion of Alternatives A and D at the time.
[1] McIntire Road Environmental Analysis, Historical and Archaeological Technical Report, Task 8, prepared by DeLeuw, Cather, and Co. of Virginia, O8/Ol/1985 - prepared in association with Fleming Corporation Engineering-Science.
Portion of Figure 1-2 with red shaded area depicting current proposed route (DeLeuw, Cather, and Co.: 1985)
Archaeological survey of the present project corridor resulted in the identification of four sites, 44AB206-209. None of the four sites were determined eligible for listing in the National Register and no further testing was undertaken.
The 1985 cultural resources survey also identified historic structures over 50 years of age within 200 feet of each alternative corridor. A single structure was identified within 200 feet of the current proposed route; 1301 Melbourne Road or the John F. Elliott house (VDHR ID #104-0186). A subsequent Phase II evaluation of this resource by John Milner Associates as part of the larger Charlottesville Bypass Study in 1988 determined that it was not eligible for the National Register and the VDHR concurred. This resource has since been destroyed and replaced by modem townhouses.
In May of 1993, the VDOT re-evaluated cultural resources along the alternative routes proposed for the Meadowcreek Parkway Project. The re-evaluation found that one archaeological site associated with the then-present alignment, which would have required further study to establish its National Register eligibility, had been destroyed by the construction of tennis courts. The VDOT recommended Phase II evaluations of four sites depending on the ultimate chosen alignment and construction footprint. Additional architectural survey also was conducted for areas outside the present (2008) APE, north of Melbourne Rd. In 1994 the VDOT determined that the preferred alignment avoided archaeological sites previously recommended for Phase II evaluation. Similarly, no eligible structures were located in the preferred alignment APE. By letter dated January 30, 1995. the VDOT coordinated these results with the VDHR and the agency concurred that no additional work within the right-of-way was necessary (Attachment A).
In 2006, the VDOT conducted additional cultural resources survey at the northern end of the Proposed McIntire Road Extended project corridor to accommodate the addition of a proposed storm water management pond. The survey resulted in the identification of an isolated archaeological find and a single architectural resource, a portion of the former Old Main Line Southern Railroad bed (VDHR ID #104-5100). By signature dated July 18, 2006, the VDHR concurred that architectural resource 104-5100 was not eligible for listing in the NRHP and that the project would have no effect on historic properties (Attachment B).
On September 4, 2007, portions of McIntire Park (VDHR ID #104-5139) were determined eligible for listing in the National Register as part of the cultural resources studies performed for the Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road Project (DHR File #2006-1589). As a result, several contributing elements to the historic McIntire Park property have been identified, including the McIntire Golf Course (104-5102) and other features.
Area of Potential Effect (APE)
The USACE's permit area for the McIntire Road Extended project includes the jurisdictional road crossing at Station 32+69.22, plus the area of all fill needed to bring the proposed highway at the crossing up to grade with the top of the slopes forward (north) and back (south) of the crossing. Such fill extends forward from the crossing to just shy of the end of the project, at Station 38+10.00, and back from the crossing to Station 28+65.50.
In accordance with 36 CFR 800.4(a)(1) and 44 CFR 800.16(d), the USACE has identified the Area of Potential Effects (APE) for its undertaking, as depicted in Attachment C. The APE for direct effects is the USACE permit area, the limits of which are described above. The APE for the indirect effects of the USACE's undertaking includes the geographic area that will be affected by remaining sections of the McIntire Road Extended project (i.e., all remaining temporary and permanent easements or right of way necessary for the construction project) as well as the geographic area within which historic properties could be indirectly affected by the entire highway project.
Given the nature of the McIntire Road Extension project, the types of potential indirect effects that might need to be considered are visual and noise intrusions on the historic setting of historic properties. The boundaries of the APE for indirect visual effects take into consideration the area's topography, vegetation, and modern elements of the built environment, and were developed from field observations made by VDOT staff earlier this year. No noise studies for McIntire Road Extended have been conducted since 1985 (DeLeuw, Cather & Company of Virginia for VDOT) and 1994 (VDOT staff), when the project was proposed as a four-lane highway and was Federally funded. The results of these studies were useful, however, in developing the boundaries of the APE for indirect effects for the USACE's undertaking. Both the 1985 and 1994 studies modeled noise levels at receptors located south of the Route 250 Bypass east and west of McIntire Road; along the west side of Park Street between the Route 250 Bypass and Melbourne Road; and within McIntire Park east of the current Southern Railroad line. For the sections of what was then "Alternative A" that correspond to the present McIntire Road Extended project, the studies found that significant increases in noise levels (increases of 10dB or more above existing ambient levels) would occur only at the McIntire Park receptors.
Identification of Historic Properties
Based on the results of previous efforts to identify historic properties (see Previous Cultural Resources Coordination above), the VDOT has determined that there is one historic property within the APE for the USACE's undertaking associated with the proposed McIntire Road Extended project: McIntire Municipal Park (104-5139) (Attachment D). Contributing elements to the park which lie within the APE include the McIntire Golf Course (104-5102), the Old Southern Railroad Bed (104-5100), the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial (104-5139-0001) and a Spring/Spring House (104-5100). None of these elements are considered individually eligible for the National Register.
McIntire Municipal Park (104-5139) was established in 1926, and is divided into two sections by the Norfolk & Southern Railroad tracts. Most of the park features in McIntire Park West date from the late 20th century; McIntire Park East holds some of the earliest park elements and is the only section of the park considered eligible for the National Register.
The McIntire Golf Course (104-5102) was constructed ca. 1926 on the portion of McIntire Park east of the Norfolk Southern Railroad. The nine-hole course is an example of "pasture" golf, employing the natural rolling countryside with no sand bunkers, water hazards, or waste bunkers. It features hard packed sand greens.
The Old Southern Railroad Bed (104-5100) is a portion of the ca. 1881 line which was abandoned in the 1910s. It is "identified by a linear level feature running north trough the park, with the most notable section being between two putting greens where the railroad bed is approximately 15 feet below the elevation of the putting greens. The railroad continues as an elevated ridge overlooking another fairway on the floodplain of Schenks Branch" (VDHR DSS Site Form).
The Spring/Spring House (recorded along with the Old Southern Railroad Bed as 104-5100) is "a small stone building, constructed into the side of the hill with a concrete slab roof. Currently the storage shed has a piece of plywood acting as a door. The structure measures 10 feet x 6 feet and is approximately 8 feet tall" (VDHR DSS Site Form). Presumably, this structure was used by the railway before the line was abandoned.
The Dogwood Vietnam Memorial (104-5139-0001) was constructed in 1966. Its main elements are a flagpole and a memorial marker listing the names of those veterans from the Charlottesville and Albemarle area who died in the war, set within a designed landscape of mature trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses, and flowers, and hardscape elements of paving stone and brick.
Consulting Parties and Public Involvement
In early October 2008, the VDOT, on behalf of the Norfolk District USACE, assembled a list of potential consulting parties to the Section 106 process, and then sent each potential party a letter inviting them to contact the USACE if they wished to participate in consultation. Potential consulting parties, listed in a table in Attachment E, included the project's two participating local governments, parties contacted by the FHWA for the proposed Rte. 250 Interchange Project, parties suggested by the City of Charlottesville and those known to have expressed an interest in historic properties in either the Rte. 250 Interchange or McIntire Road Extended project areas. Responses to the invitation letter to date are noted in the table in Attachment E. To provide other members of the public the opportunity to comment on the undertaking or participate in consultation, the VDOT will be posting public notice in Charlottesville area media outlets on the USACE's behalf, informing the public of the project's potential effects to historic properties and providing contact information.
The VDOT is providing a copy of this letter to all individuals, organizations, and governmental bodies that have requested consulting party status from the USACE. We request that your agency and these other consulting parties provide any comments you might have on the USACE's APE for its undertaking associated with the McIntire Road Extended project and the results of its efforts to identify historic properties within the APE in writing, no later than the thirtieth (30th) day following receipt of this letter. Comments should be mailed to my attention in VDOT's Lynchburg District Office at 4219 Campbell Avenue, Lynchburg, VA 24506, or directed to my email address, Randy.Lichtenberger@VDOT.Virginia.gov.
Sincerely,
[Signature: Randy Lichtenberger]
Randy M. Lichtenberger
District Cultural Resources Manager Lynchburg District
Attachments and Enclosure
Copies furnished w/attachments and enclosure:
Mr. Nicholas L. Konchuba, Chief, Eastern Virginia Regulatory Section, USACE (ATTN: Ms. Kathy S. Perdue)
Ms. Angela Tucker, Development Services Manager, City of Charlottesville
Mr. David Benish, Chief of Planning, Albemarle County
Mr. John A. Cruickshank, Chair, Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club
Mr. Daniel Bluestone, Executive Board Member, Thomas Jefferson Branch, APVA/Preservation Virginia
Mr. Peter Kleeman, Chair, STAMP (Sensible Transportation Alternatives to the Meadowcreek Parkway)
Ms. Colette Hall, President, North Downtown Residential Association
Mr. Richard Collins