In this edition, we'll discuss the history of the safety sidewalk project.
The History. The project began in late 2017 with residents' request to the GCA Board for a community-wide sidewalk study. In early 2018 the Board established a sub-committee under the Common Area Review Board (CARB) and the community was solicited for membership. Four residents responded and the committee began its work. The Sidewalk Committee first created three criteria and priorities:
1) Safety - Where roads have extremely limited line of sight and with higher density of homes
2) A Contiguous Loop - the ability for walkers to use a sidewalk and walk a contiguous path
3) Access to the Contiguous Loop
During 2018, the committee walked the entire community to observe the conditions, and then developed five stretches of potential sidewalks. Progress reviews were discussed in open sessions of the CARB and GCA Board meetings throughout the year. Several years prior, another extensive study focused on excessive speed and sidewalks. The committee reviewed this study for applicability. Unfortunately much of the study was not applicable as significant development has occurred especially in the eastern part of the Community.
In late 2018, the Sidewalk Committee presented the results and recommendations to the Board. Although the committee recommended that we move forward with five sidewalk segments, the Board decided to move forward only on the Safety related segments. This Newbridge and Farringdon segment has been discussed in recent newsletters. .
Why Newbridge and Farringdon Roads? Any time a person walks in the street can be a safety issue. However some very curvy roads have a limited line of sight. And with significant development, Carroll Creek, Farringdon, and Newbridge Roads are busy spine roads. Sections of Newbridge and Farringdon have a line of sight of 80 feet*. A car traveling at exactly 25 MPH moves at 37 feet per second. If a car comes around a curve and a walker is on the street, the driver has about 2 seconds to react.
Trivia Question: If you live near Carroll Creek Road (the Highlands, Newbridge or Farringdon Roads), what is the shortest/quickest exit to the gatehouse? See answer below.
The on-going schedule. With the Board's approval to proceed, the committee had an informal review with the Chief Engineer of Albemarle County who provided additional guidance. The GCA then signed a contract with Woolley Engineering in late 2020. You've probably seen the surveyors completing their measurement work. Please do not remove any pink or blue markers. Their data will be returned to the Engineers who will create a formal set of Engineering drawings. In late January, the preliminary design will be presented to Albemarle County for review. We anticipate this review will be uneventful. Following the county review, the Engineering Design will be completed and a formal request for review and approval will be presented to the County in February. The County Engineers may approve the design at that time or may require revisions. If revisions are required a subsequent county review will be needed. Once we obtain final county approval the project plans will be provided to qualified paving companies for fixed cost bids.
In the next newsletter we'll discuss the cost details, how the project is funded, an overview of the GCA Allocated Reserve Account, and how that fund is used for this and other projects.
Trivia Answer: Newbridge/Farringdon/Devon Pines/Paddington to Piper Way.
*VDOT requires 212 feet of line of sight on level roads and 265 feet on sloped roads with a posted speed limit of 25 MPH. Line of sight requirements are based on stopping distances that includes provisions for braking effectiveness, reaction time, road conditions.
