VDOT began rebuilding the Rio Road East and Belvedere Boulevard intersection as a signalized "continuous green-T" in March 2026. The work is expected to be finished by November 2027. A second project, also on Rio Road East, is underway at John Warner Parkway, where the signal is being replaced with a hybrid multi-lane roundabout on the same schedule.
Most coverage stops at the construction dates. For anyone who lives here, the new design is about one movement: the left turn out of the neighborhood onto Rio Road toward Park Street and downtown. That turn has shaped more than morning traffic. It also explains why the city bus reaches The Center at Belvedere in only one direction.
How the finished intersection will sort traffic
VDOT and Albemarle County describe the design in the same terms. The county's description comes from a 2026 action in which it donated a small piece of land for the project. When the work is done, the intersection will handle each movement this way:
- Eastbound on Rio Road, toward Park Street, traffic passes through without stopping. That is the "continuous green" half of the name.
- Left out of Belvedere Boulevard, drivers turn into a channelized receiving lane on Rio Road and merge into eastbound traffic from there. They no longer have to find a gap in two directions at once.
- Right out of Belvedere Boulevard, toward Fashion Square, the turn stays available.
- Into Belvedere from Rio Road, left and right turns both remain.
- Westbound drivers headed to the church on the south side of Rio Road will use a U-turn location at Greenbrier Terrace.
The intersection is planned to be signalized. The project came out of Albemarle's Rio Road Corridor Study "to address safety and mitigate congestion." SMART SCALE, the state's competitive transportation funding program, paid for it after the county applied. For the right-of-way, the county gave VDOT 111 square feet of a county-owned parcel at the corner, along with 150 square feet of temporary construction easement.
A whole intersection rebuild rests on very little new land. Nearly all of the change comes from how the existing pavement is divided up, and the main beneficiary is the left turn.
The same left turn shaped the bus route
In February 2022, a regional transit study from the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission looked at CAT's proposed changes to Route 11, the Locust Avenue and Rio Road line. One recommendation was new service to The Center at Belvedere, with a limit spelled out plainly:
"Addition of northbound only service to the Center on Rio Road; southbound service is not possible due to the lack of a signal at Rio Road and Belvedere Boulevard."
That limit carried into today's schedule. The Route 11 timetable on the City of Charlottesville's website is marked effective May 10, 2025, and it lists "Center @ Belvedere" only on outbound trips toward Fashion Square. According to the published routing instructions, the outbound bus turns right from Rio Road onto Belvedere Boulevard and enters The Center's lot. It then heads back down Belvedere Boulevard and turns right onto Rio Road toward Hillsdale Drive. The inbound trip to the Downtown Transit Station runs from Mall Drive through Hillsdale Drive and Rio Road into Park Street, with no stop at The Center.
Both turns on the outbound loop are rights. An inbound stop would need a left out of Belvedere Boulevard onto Rio Road toward Park Street, the movement the 2022 study said couldn't be served without a signal.
Here's the schedule as published, effective May 10, 2025:
| Weekdays | Saturday | |
|---|---|---|
| First outbound departure, Downtown Transit Station | 6:10 AM | 6:10 AM |
| First stop at Center @ Belvedere | 6:22 AM | 6:22 AM |
| Pattern after that | :27 past the hour | :27 past the hour |
| Last stop at Center @ Belvedere | 10:27 PM | 5:27 PM |
| Daily trips, both directions | 33 | 23 |
| Sunday | No service listed |
The timetable is the latest version found on the city's site, but it dates to May 2025. Check it with CAT before planning a trip around it.
What the signal changes, and what no one has committed to
When Rio Road and Belvedere Boulevard gets its signal, the reason the 2022 study gave for northbound-only service goes away. A bus heading inbound could, physically, leave The Center, turn left and use the new receiving lane toward Park Street like any other vehicle.
No agency has said that will happen. Our research didn't turn up any statement from CAT, Albemarle County, VDOT or The Center about changing Route 11 once the intersection is finished. Bus service to The Center already took years to arrive. In May 2024, CAT's draft transit strategic plan proposed realigning Route 11 to stop at The Center, and Charlottesville Community Engagement reported that bus service "was originally a condition for capital support from City Council but the extension has been delayed."
The accurate version for now: the physical barrier is scheduled to come down by November 2027, and any change to the route would be a separate decision.
The other end of the trip, at John Warner Parkway
The second project sits on the route to Pen Park and the Park Street side of town. VDOT is converting the signalized Rio Road East and John Warner Parkway intersection into a hybrid multi-lane roundabout. The agency says the change will cut conflict points and crashes and improve pedestrian and bicyclist features. As part of the work, the CAT bus stop there will move and get a shelter and bench.
Taken together, the two projects change both ends of the same stretch of Rio Road. At Belvedere Boulevard, eastbound traffic will stop waiting at a light. At John Warner Parkway, the light will be gone. VDOT has bundled them with three other Albemarle intersections in a single design-build contract worth $42.3 million. The bundle uses SMART SCALE, Highway Safety Improvement Program and Albemarle County funds. One of the five, the roundabout near Crozet where Routes 240, 250 and 680 meet, is already listed as complete.
What's on the calendar between now and November 2027
The work this fall happens mostly at night. VDOT's Culpeper District weekly traffic alert, generated September 25, 2026, lists alternating lane closures for "New Roadway Construction" on Rio Road East near Dunlora Drive. The closures run from 7:00 PM to 5:00 AM, scheduled for September 22 through November 6, 2026. That's a forecast, and VDOT publishes a new alert every week. Late drives home past Dunlora Drive may run into a single open lane on some nights through early November.
The neighborhood's own community building has been part of the project's public process from the start. When VDOT held a virtual work information and Q&A session on both Rio Road projects, the RSVP link in CBS19's preview pointed to The Center's calendar. The Center at Belvedere, at 540 Belvedere Boulevard, has two programs on its calendar next week. A CAT Workshop & Field Trip runs Tuesday, October 13, from 12:45 to 3:45 PM, and Tales of the University runs Thursday, October 15, from 3:00 to 4:30 PM. Anyone with questions about Route 11, the stop at The Center or the John Warner Parkway stop could bring them to the CAT workshop.
For drivers, there are no detours to plan around yet. VDOT's project page doesn't list a closure of Belvedere Boulevard or John Warner Parkway, and the current alert covers nighttime lane closures only. The project page was last updated September 9, 2026, and still shows a November 2027 finish for both Rio Road intersections.
If you're thinking about selling in Belvedere before the cones come down, buyers will ask about this intersection, and the Marjorie Adam Team can explain the timeline and what's confirmed. Request your free home valuation, and we'll include what the Rio Road work means for your listing.
