I just don’t even see the ridge road connection to 440 even vital at this point and I’m sure the neighborhood agrees.
Terrible sketch but I just have my phone right now haha but if we pretty much flip the ridge rd portion of interchange for the mall / northern local road access (lead mine / blue ridge) and have ridge rd pretty much dead end into varnell ave we could be getting somewhere. Then whatever ramp braiding / rework of the actual Glenwood interchange and limit access on Glenwood with an interchange at creedmoor we might be working with something.
4 Likes
Any of these ideas discussed are way better then the massive ying/yang type proposal on the DOT site. Good lord.
Of course the ridge road nimby’s would probably protest to loose their easy on/off access to 440.
3 Likes
Roller Coaster Rd, I love Wade Ave too.
6 Likes
Hahaha that’s what I call it too!
1 Like
I really like this one. Way better than what I’ve seen that was proposed.
In general I liked concepts 4/5. If Crabtree Avenue is not going to be used then I would prefer it all crash and burn. jk. I’m just not a fan of the other ones that were proposed.
1 Like
The problem with the DOT plans are that they overload the Glenwood interchange. Putting local traffic as well as long distance traffic through a single interchange leads to some pretty ridiculous configurations.
Crabtree Valley Avenue just makes it so much easier. Use that for the connection to local destinations and nearby roads, such as the mall, Blue Ridge, and Lead Mine, while the Glenwood intetchange handles everything from Creedmoor and further out. Edwards Mill could be reached about equally from both. Lastly, connecting Crabtree Valley Avenue to ITB Glenwood itself provides the final piece that takes some of the traffic off of the Glenwood Avenue interchange.
The hottest take here is that there is no way to go directly between Blue Ridge/Lead Mine and Glenwood. Maybe could throw in some ramps but maybe not, and in that case, the Crabtree Valley Ave extension serves as the connector.
6 Likes
I remember looking up Wade’s history – that stretch was built in the 1950s as a connector, and shoehorned between some existing state facilities.
https://www.city-data.com/forum/58615214-post30.html
6 Likes
Some interesting tidbits in there. Now the gap kind of makes sense.
Wish we had some better connectivity East to west to / from downtown not on neighborhood roads but that’s water under the bridge now
1 Like
I don’t think the connection to Crabtree Valley Ave then to Glenwood would be that bad. It seems sufficient enough. The positive is that I would assume the light cycle would be shorter. People heading north to North Hills Drive would have to exit and take Marriott Dr. I would assume some may end up staying on Creedmoor and making a right on Millbrook or Sugar Bush. Would there still be the access at Marriot drive towards the mall? I’m assuming the road to the Marriott would be cut off, but I’m not sure if the mall would be happy with losing the direct connection from Glenwood (stating that as long as the mall side has access and not the Marriott side, then this would be fine).
It would be the perfect time to implement the northern side of this since the apartments around Royal Hill Ct are torn down and there doesn’t seem to be any progress being done on Clairmont at Crabtree. Of course the land purchases would need to be made.
1 Like
That is some welcome good news from Disappointment Gulch!
Hopefully the developers come to their senses and sell to somebody who will build something more ambitious there. But I’d rather have a weed-encrusted pit there for a decade than the schlockiest of schlock that is Clairmont Crabtree.
2 Likes
Did we previously know that Midtown Exchange is rumored to have a live music venue? I don’t think I knew that. It is mentioned in this article. A concert space by Live Nation.
9 Likes
Live nation doesn’t just make any plain old music venue.
I’m thinking it could be some sort of concert hall / theater type space. That could be killer! Really looking forward to this development.
I just pray there’s good connectivity with the north hills expansion and the entire St. Albans corridor feels like one large urban environment.
6 Likes
It’s probably the convention center portion of the project
I’m wondering if they trimmed back the “convention” use and made it more of an event space.
I’m picturing a coke theatre type thing like in the battery Atlanta development. https://www.cocacolaroxy.com/
3 Likes
I’m sure you were not driving and using your phone at the same time.
1 Like
It shall to all remain a mystery
What are you a traffic engineer or something?
2 Likes
Technically yes. Do more safety / design / concept studies than actual traffic modeling so far though.
2 Likes
Yep I’d seen you mention it before and I was trying to be funny. Not very successfully lol.