George:

When Harry Tenney concluded his diatribe likening the Parkway issue to slavery or nuclear fallout, I felt inclined to put in my two cents worth. I am one of the former elected officials who supports the Parkway and supported it through all the contention while I was on Council.

The project we are discussing is a new two-lane street, not a highway. We do not build a lot of new streets in Charlottesville. It will have a nice walking/biking trail beside it.

The street will not “tear a park asunder,” as his letter says. On the contrary, it will run along the side of the park, leaving most of the parkland open. The street should actually make the park more accessible to our citizens. As it now, only a handful of golfers (the majority from out of town) and an adventurous walker or two enjoy that part of the park, but when it is redesigned, we will all be able to use its trails and hills.

Many, many people work downtown or on Route 29 and have only two ways to get back and forth. One is Park Street, one of our most beautiful historic neighborhoods, its walkability spoiled by the thousands of cars coming through daily. At one time, the figure was 27,000 cars. The new street will give us more of a grid, which is how most cities are planned.

One of the most beloved parks is Central Park in New York City, which has several roads going through it. They seem to make little difference to the dogwalkers, Frisbee throwers, etc. At certain times, the roads are closed to traffic.

In conclusion, I believe the majority of citizens want the Parkway.

Virginia Daugherty (Electronic mail, June 29, 2009)