charlottesville, virginia 2015

The western portal. Before the advent of the Federal Highway system, state route 250 connected the city of Charlottesville to Richmond in the east, and Staunton to the west. Now used to bypass the city center, it remains a major thoroughfare.  Typical of modern cities, Charlottesville makes use of signs and landscaping to mark city limits. Unfortunately as signifiers go, for motorists these signs offer no sense of threshold, of entry.  Cities used to be defined by distinct edges (walls) for protection, accessible only through portals or gates.

Typical of bridge design of its era, the existing span is uninspired, ill-proportioned, and utilitarian. The site however, is a prominent moment in the landscape. Well within city limits, but high on an elevated knoll,  the bridge is the first threshold along the western approach of 250.