Plans for Pedestrian Bridge Over Rivanna River

City/County unveils $11-15 million plan for ped/bike bridge between Woolen Mills/Riverview and Pantops

Charlottesville and Albemarle County have been talking about building pedestrian/bike bridges over the Rivanna River since at least 2003, and around 2008, ahead of the construction of the new Martha Jefferson Hospital on Pantops, there was renewed interest in the ped/bike bridges idea, as many worried about the increased traffic across Free Bridge and the Pantops area. But plans never moved forward. Today, that part of town has become a bottleneck that can back traffic up all the way to the top of Pantops Mountain at times. Historically, planning has always focused on a park-to-park bridge project, from Pen Park to Darden Towe Park, but now the focus is on a bridge between Woolen Mills/Riverview and Pantops.

As part of the Albemarle County’s PantopsMaster Plan, Charlottesville’s Bike/Ped Master Plan, and the Rivanna River Area Plan, planners will unveil a recently completed feasibility study, the Rivanna River Shared Use Path Bridge Study, which calls for a bridge between Woolen Mills…