Piedmont Heights Master Plan To Be Presented at January VHCA Board Meeting

By: Jack White, VHCA Board President

Bill Seay from the Piedmont Heights Civic Association (PHCA) will make a brief presentation on that group’s proposed new master plan at this month’s regular VHCA board meeting. The meeting is scheduled for Monday January 14 at 7 PM at the public library on Ponce de Leon Avenue.

Piedmont Heights, Virginia-Highland, Morningside/Lenox Park, and Lindridge/Martin Manor are the neighborhoods that comprise NPU-F. The PHCA defines Piedmont Heights’ boundaries as being roughly I-85 on the north, the (future) BeltLine on the southwest, and Piedmont Road on the south and east. The association is seeking NPU approval for their master plan, and part of that process involves giving adjacent neighborhoods the chance to hear about the plan first-hand.

The plan merits our attention, partly because the VHCA Planning Committee has been examining the planning implications of traffic issues on our major streets for some time, and specifically because the PHCA’s plan supports the BeltLine-adopted future recommendation of reducing Monroe Drive from 4 to 3 lanes north of Piedmont. The PHCA has had to contend with Monroe as a choke point for decades. Their thinking is shifting away from expanding that street’s capacity and toward trying to making it more pedestrian and cycling-compatible, characteristics it emphatically does not possess at this point anywhere along its length.

Given the new pedestrian/bike usage and increased crowds at the new BeltLine connection with Monroe in VaHi, this challenge is increasingly front and center for us as well. BeltLine usage is likely to increase dramatically this spring. As Monroe is currently the only formal entrance point the BeltLine trail from our neighborhood, pedestrian safety is a real concern.

Click here for more details on Piedmont Height’s proposed master plan.