The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has announced the completion of a design-build project at the intersection of Route 743 (Hydraulic Road) and U.S. 29 (Seminole Trail), located in both the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County. The final phase, which included the opening of a pedestrian bridge, marks the end of this $24 million initiative.
Funding for these improvements came entirely from Virginia’s SMART SCALE program, which allocates resources to transportation projects that address safety, congestion, and accessibility needs across the state.
The project introduced several key features aimed at improving safety and traffic flow. These include a new shared-use path and pedestrian bridge over U.S. 29 near Zan Road, a signalized pedestrian crossing with reconfigured traffic movements at the Hydraulic Road/U.S. 29 intersection, a roundabout at Hillsdale Drive and Hydraulic Road, as well as access-management upgrades at intersections along Hydraulic Road with Brandywine Drive and Michie Drive.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on November 13 to celebrate the completion of the project’s final element—the pedestrian bridge. The event involved collaboration between VDOT, project designer Wallace Montgomery, contractor Curtis Contracting, local government partners from Charlottesville and Albemarle County, and representatives from the University of Virginia.
With all elements now open to the public, VDOT states that these changes will offer safer pedestrian crossings, improved options for U-turns and general traffic movement, better transit access, and enhanced overall operations along U.S. 29 and Hydraulic Road.
VDOT provides updates about road conditions in its Culpeper District through its X account (formerly Twitter) at x.com/vadotculp as well as on its Culpeper District Facebook group page. Statewide travel information—including real-time traffic camera feeds—is available via the 511 Virginia website, through the free VDOT 511 mobile app, or by calling 511 within Virginia.
