The University Board of Visitors Building and Grounds committee discussed possible changes to the intersection of Ivy Road and Emmet Street at its meeting April 26. The area, part of what is known as the Ivy Corridor, was identified by the board as a high-traffic area in need of redevelopment.
The Board’s Resolution for the Ivy Corridor, adopted in March 2015, describes several of the board’s goals, including enhancing “the safety and connectivity between the redevelopment area, Central Grounds and North Grounds while providing an opportunity for interaction with the Charlottesville community.”
Other stated goals include identifying “green space potential for community benefit and aesthetic enhancement of a major University entrance” and accommodating “current transportation, parking and stormwater functions on site.”
The board has supported a study of traffic patterns in the University area and has also been looking at potential reuses of space. According to a presentation given to the Building and Grounds committee in April, Ivy Mountain, North Grounds, the Ivy Corridor, the International Residential College, West Complex and Brandon Avenue have been identified as potential areas to redevelop.
Student Member of the Board of Visitors Daniel Judge, a fourth-year in the College, said the redevelopment process is still very fluid.
While board members and the administration have several ideas for how to redevelop the Ivy Corridor, the project is still in its initial phases, and no proposed changes have been brought before the Board for a vote yet.
The ideas outlined in the committee’s presentation include walkways to increase connectivity to Central Grounds looking toward Carr’s Hill and improving the area’s aesthetics through including more green space.
Other ideas explored in the presentation included a potential roundabout at the intersection of Ivy Road and Emmet Street — although it was noted that a roundabout could increase conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians and bicycles — as well as altering the lanes at the intersection.
The Cavalier Inn may also be repurposed, Judge said, and the committee’s presentation included designs both with and without the Cavalier Inn.
Judge said one of the board’s goals is to make the corridor a safer, more efficient space.
“As we are always increasing how pedestrian-friendly we are, how bike friendly we are, I think that a lot of people are wondering how we fix that traffic situation,” Judge said.
Judge also emphasized the importance of the Ivy Corridor as the entrance to the University.
“It’s in many ways a gateway to the University. Coming down [U.S. Route] 29, there’s tons and tons of students and visitors that actually enter the University through that path,” Judge said. “It’s the first time they’re introduced to the University of Virginia, so it’s a pretty key part of Grounds.”
He also said the Ivy Corridor is the approximate geographic center of Grounds.
“I think that the fact that it’s at the center, the fact that it’s the entrance, really raises the level of importance of the Ivy Corridor,” Judge said. “The amount of care [the board and administration is] putting in to see how students and professors can really use this area and what type of impact it will have on them, because it’s the entrance to our community and again it connects many parts of the University … I think that kind of adds to the emphasis on it, which is a good thing.”
According to the committee’s presentation, discussing the next steps for the Ivy Corridor is a proposed agenda item for the upcoming Board of Visitors meeting in June.
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