City of Charlottesville

Department of Public Works

Utilities Division

305 4th Street N.W.

Charlottesville, VA 22903

Ph. (434) 970-3800 Fax. (434) 970-3817

Fontaine Waterline Work -         Update: June 12, 2012

Next week, the Utilities Division of Public Works will begin a water line replacement project along Fontaine Avenue from Westerly Avenue to Maury Avenue.  This project is necessary to provide adequate fire flows and water supply to the area.  It will impact the traffic patterns, but the plan is to minimize the inconvenience as much as possible.

The project will consist of three phases.

Phase 1 will begin at the JPA/Fontaine/Maury intersection adjacent to the JPA bridge project the week of June 25th. The project will continue west on Fontaine Avenue to Lewis Street and north on Maury Avenue to Price Avenue. The initial work will involve closing the JPA/Fontaine/Maury intersection and detouring traffic to Mimosa Lane to Stadium Road to Shamrock Road. Because of the detour, this work will occur at night, starting at 8:00pm, continuing until 6:00am. The night work portion should last no more than 2 weeks. As the work proceeds past the businesses on Fontaine Avenue and moves closer to the residential area, work will be shifted to daytime to minimize nighttime noise. The duration of Phase 1 is approximately 7 weeks.

Phase 2 will begin the week of June 18th at Westerly Avenue and continue west on Fontaine Avenue past Apple Tree Road. This work will occur during the day starting no earlier than 9:00am and possibly ending as late as 10:00pm. During this phase, parking on Fontaine Avenue will be temporarily eliminated and the road will be reduced to two lanes through the construction area, similar to the traffic patterns set up for UVA home football games. If needed, southbound traffic may be detoured through the Westerly Avenue/Summit Street neighborhood. The duration of this phase is approximately 8 weeks.

Phase 3 consists of the area between Apple Tree and Lewis Street. Phase 3 will not occur until Phase 1 and 2 are complete. This section will involve day work (no earlier than 9:00am to no later than 10:00pm) due to the residential neighborhood, and involves a detour to Mimosa Lane to Stadium Road to Shamrock Road. The duration for this work is approximately 6 weeks. Because Phase 3 is dependent upon the progress made during Phases 1 and 2, it is possible that this section may be postponed until next summer when the majority of students are gone and the JPA Bridge reopened.

All efforts will be made to maintain access to all businesses and residences at all times during the project. Should an entrance need to be blocked, special prior coordination will be provided to those impacted. When parking is to be restricted, NO PARKING signs will be erected at least 48 hours in advance. Appropriate road work and/or detour signage will be provided by the contractor in advance of actual work.

This memo is to be shared with the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association, the JPA Neighborhood Association, all businesses in the immediate vicinity of the project, UVA Hospital, The University (and Transit system), UVA Foundation, all emergency service providers and all other City departments. Alerts for detours will be provided to local media as well.

We understand the inconvenience that this necessary work is going to cause and we ask for your patience, and cooperation. We are expediting all work in order to minimize the duration of the inconvenience. Please contact the Utilities Department at 970-3800 should you have any questions.