The Region 2000 Local Government Council will hold a regional planning forum later this month to examine how land use can affect transportation in Central Virginia. Says the News & Advance:
Campbell County Community Development Director Paul Harvey … pointed out how more rural areas along U.S. 29 are zoned as agricultural residential, while areas such as Madison Heights are zoned business.
As cars drove through the area, the speed limits decrease in the business-heavy sections to help the traffic flow and minimize accidents, Harvey said.
“Any time you look at an area with a traffic problem, it’s usually the result of a land-use decision or a series of land-use decisions over the years,” Harvey said.
“If you don’t get people to think about (land use and transportation) at the same time, you can have some unintended consequences.”
Even smaller metropolitan areas in Virginia experience localized congestion. Addressing underlying land use issues could make a significant improvement to the quality of life. Too bad that Virginia’s larger metro areas, where traffic congestion is far more acute, have yet to achieve the same level of understanding.
