Since reacquiring management of the Charlottesville Podcasting Network, I have resisted posting material here. When I created this site, it was just to experiment with the technology. Thousands of podcasts later, there is a lot here I want to keep as an archive of a certain time.
But I also want to add things, even if those things may just be repurposed content from my other work at Town Crier Productions. That’s the company I created in 2020 to help me figure out how to make a living covering the world around me as a journalist.
So, I think what I may do for a time is continue to post these and to add a little commentary about the stories where I can. I’m not doing that for this one, nor am I going to repost all of the text. You can read that on Information Charlottesville.
Anyway, here are the first two paragraphs of the story to whet your appetite.
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The current administration of the City of Charlottesville has inherited a city government that has struggled to turn ideas for road and multimodal improvement into completed projects. For instance, the Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded three Smart Scale grants to the city in 2016, but none of them has yet gone to construction. The city saved up millions for a West Main Streetscape project that was canceled last year with the money reprioritized for the renovation of Buford Middle School.
The task of reforming the city’s transportation process has fallen to Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders. Last year, he worked with the Virginia Department of Transportation on a plan to fix the city’s broken process, including the cancellation of a couple other projects. Last year, the city did not submit any applications through the Smart Scale process. That was one concession to VDOT officials who have become impatient with the city’s inability to deliver.