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265 <br /> <br />8. Cell Towers. To supplement its revenues, VDOT has begun leasing portions of the <br />public rights-of-way that VDOT now "owns" - property originally acquired solely for <br />traditional road system purposes. Such leases transfer long term use of various sites to <br />private companies who then construct wireless telecommunication towers ("Cell towers") <br />on the sites along our highways. <br /> <br /> Cell towers are just as unsightly as billboards, perhaps more so, because they are <br />larger or taller or both. Yet, construction of these towers continues to proliferate in <br />Virginia. This new cell tower- highway program has occurred without any local <br />government zoning or land use oversight or permission, and without any meaningful <br />oppommity for the public to participate in deciding where the next tower will appear. For <br />these reasons, the City is opposed to any construction of such towers anywhere along <br />Phase I of this project without the express permission of this Council and the Board of <br />Supervisors of Albemarle County. We wish to see VDOT's agreement to this local <br />government involvement memorialized in a formal document as the project moves <br />forward. <br /> <br />9. Limited Access. Council endorses the concept of a limited access Parkway for this <br />road for its entire length, from the 250 bypass to Rio Road except for the single <br />intersection of Melbourne Road. R should be engineered for passenger traffic only, and <br />signed to prevent track traffic. Council chooses not to recommend fencing the right of <br />way as is conventional in many limited access highways. As the Rieley Report indicates, <br />"with the lower speed design and the objective of making this roadway as much a part of <br />the park as is possible" fencing is not "necessary.or desirable". <br /> <br />10. Regional Transportation and The Eastern Connector. While the Council supports <br />construction of a two lane version of the Meadow Creek Parkway as described in this <br />letter; Council has no interest in this Parkway's becoming a de facto "eastern connector", <br />i.e., being used by the public to travel from Route 29 North to Pantops-Route 20 North. <br />'The Parkway should be viewed as only one small part of the regional transportation <br />solution. To this end the City's approval of the Meadowcreek Parkway is contingent <br />upon receipt of a commitment within six months from the date of this resolution from <br />Albemarle County and the University of Virginia, in cooperation with the MPO and <br />VDOT, to develop a new regional transportation network plan which, among other <br />things, will minimize increases in automobile traffic in City and County neighborhoods <br />hrough the year 2015. Development of this plan shall include focus on reviewing all data <br />that has been created The goal of the plan shall be to develop new regional solutions to <br />our current and future traffic problems, without adversely impacting existing City and <br />County residents or businesses or overly depleting our region's natural resources. <br /> <br />11. The MPO Meadow Creek Parkway Design Advisory Committee. This Committee is <br />commended by Council for its extensive work on the preliminary Parkway designs <br />heretofore put forward by VDOT. We urge VDOT to continue to work with this <br />Committee to ensure "that the road is compatible with the community's natural and built <br />environment, and enhances the multi-modal mobility for area residents". To the extent <br />that the Advisory Committee needs assistance in the future from the City in these <br />continuing efforts, the City may hire a technical consultant to monitor design and <br />construction, and seeks VDOT cooperation in addressing legitimate concerns of this <br />Council and City staff as the process moves forward. <br /> <br />12. Viemam War Memorial. As final design plans evolve, proper measures must be <br />taken by VDOT in cooperation with the City to protect, preserve, and care for the War <br />Memorial which currently is located on a hill in Mclntire Park near the proposed <br />intersection of the Parkway and the 250 By-Pass. <br /> <br /> The foregoing items - one by one - are each in their own right important, crucial, <br />elements in any final design that the City and this Council will support. These <br />components were coupled together in order for Council to build a consensus. To the <br />extent that the City has any right, by law or practice, to approve the final design, we ask <br />and expect that VDOT will remember this linkage. <br /> <br /> <br />