University students who are tiring of the ubiquitous sights and sounds of construction on Grounds might not be thrilled that significant renovations will begin at a popular off-Grounds location, Barracks Road Shopping Center, next month. Yet just as the Rotunda requires repairs and Cabell Hall must be upgraded, so too is Barracks in dire need of improvements. Unfortunately, the announced changes to the shopping center will not address its most pressing problems.
A relic of the 1950s, Barracks is an open-air shopping complex that sprawls about half a mile, is bisected by its namesake thoroughfare and features what are euphemistically known as "island shops," which are individual businesses located in the middle of parking lots and otherwise disconnected from the two main shopping strips. The shopping center's disjointed layout makes it virtually impossible for pedestrians - many of whom are car-less students - to reach all of its shops by foot, requiring them to dodge distracted drivers when attempting to get to the island shops and cross the four lanes of Barracks Rd. to get from the main shopping center to its north wing. It also creates a number of confusing traffic patterns, to the extent that the University Transit Service bus line running between Grounds and Barracks terminates by the McDonald's at the shopping center's southern end without attempting to carry students any closer to popular destinations such as Barnes & Noble or Kroger, which is at the main shopping center's northern terminus.
Despite this array of issues, the renovations announced last week by the shopping center's property owner, Federal Realty Investment Trust, are cosmetic in nature. Specifically, the project will include facade improvements such as a new canopy roof and redone canopy columns. It also will feature a redesign of the fountain court to make it usable for large outdoor gatherings and additional dining space. These changes, which will begin in the main shopping center and reach the north wing next year, are bound to make the outdated complex more attractive visually and will expand its functional possibilities, but they fail to alleviate the more serious design flaws that make shopping at Barracks both inconvenient and unsafe for students and other patrons.
Given that the shopping center's infrastructure already is in place, any attempt to consolidate retail space would amount to a massive logistical and financial undertaking. Fortunately, there are less complicated ways that FRIT can aid pedestrians at Barracks. For one, it should improve the signage and visual cues alerting drivers to pedestrian crosswalks throughout the shopping center. Whereas on Grounds and in certain other parts of Charlottesville pedestrians are afforded extra protection from automobiles through signs located prominently in the middle of the road and warning lights embedded in the pavement, in Barracks there are nothing more than striped crosswalks to alert oncoming drivers to pedestrians. Since those without cars have to walk from place to place in the shopping center, FRIT should consider installing one or both of these pedestrian safeguards.
Additionally, steps should be taken to normalize traffic patterns in Barracks. If some of its extraneous intersections could be eliminated and its network of roads simplified so as to channel traffic into a few main north-south corridors, then it might be feasible to extend UTS bus service to the shopping center's northern end.
Ultimately, if FRIT hopes to enhance the quality of the shopping experience at Barracks then it must make practical enhancements such as these in addition to headline-grabbing cosmetic renovations. With University enrollment slated to increase in the coming years and the number of students shopping at Barracks likely to rise accordingly, there is no better time for FRIT to begin working toward ensuring that this important constituency of its customer base is fully taken into account as it plans for the shopping center's future.
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