Within about ten days in October, three decisions about Greenbrier's route south moved at once. On October 16, Charlottesville Area Transit called off a Route 9 reroute that would have pulled the bus off Grove Road. On October 21, the city posted a Notice of Award for replacing the Dairy Road bridge over the U.S. 250 bypass. Meanwhile the city's page for the Gentry Lane School Street moved its start date to the end of November. Each was announced on its own. They all depend on the same two streets, Dairy Road and Gentry Lane, which is why the dates only make sense side by side.
The Calendar, Side by Side
| What | Where it stands as of late October 2026 | Next date to watch |
|---|---|---|
| CAT Route 9 | Existing route and schedule stay in place | As early as mid-December 2026, no final date set |
| Gentry Lane School Street | Planned for the school-owned section | Open house November 16, 5 to 6:30 p.m.; start at the end of November |
| Dairy Road bridge | Notice of Award posted October 21 | On-site work no later than January 4, 2027 |
| Greenbrier Drive, Whitewood Road to U.S. 29 | Bike lane alternatives under study | Final alternatives in December; restriping in 2027 with paving |
| John W. Warner Parkway path | Open, and not part of any announced project | None |
Each row hangs on the one above it, and Route 9 is where the chain begins.
Why Route 9 Got a Reprieve
CAT's plan, set to begin Monday, October 19, would have ended Route 9 at a building off Hydraulic Drive that housed a Kroger grocery store until August 2025. The bus would have stopped running on Gentry Lane, Frontage Road, Dairy Road and Grove Road. Charlottesville Community Engagement reported on October 15 that the change would end CAT service to the Greenbrier neighborhood for the foreseeable future. The route would also have stopped serving Charlottesville High School and no longer crossed to the north side of the bypass.
CAT gave two reasons: Gentry Lane was closing to public traffic, and Dairy Road construction was coming. The same newsletter asked Jake Mooney, president of the Greenbrier Neighborhood Association, about it. He said a pause in transit service had not come up in earlier discussions of the bridge replacement.
"I would have hoped that the bridge closure would have been accompanied by transit improvements, to mitigate the inevitable, if necessary, disruptions," Mooney wrote to Charlottesville Community Engagement.
The next day, the city announced the postponement. Charlottesville City Schools had confirmed that transit access would stay open, so Route 9 kept its existing alignment. CAT told riders to ignore any maps or schedules showing the October 19 version. It also said the change could still take effect as early as mid-December 2026, with no final date set.
So the reprieve was granted on account of Gentry Lane. Dairy Road was the other reason CAT gave, and that one still applies.
Gentry Lane Becomes a School Street, With Buses Let Through
The school-owned section of Gentry Lane runs past the Charlottesville Early Learning Center, the former Walker Upper Elementary School. The city and Charlottesville City Schools are turning it into a School Street, where people walking, biking and rolling get priority and through traffic is limited. Only school-related vehicles such as buses, staff and caregivers may enter. People who live on or near Gentry Lane keep full access to their driveways. Emergency services, mail carriers, package delivery drivers and city utility vehicles can still use the street. The project is supported by the Safe Routes to School program.
The start date has already moved once. On October 21, Charlottesville Community Engagement reported a late-October start and an open house on October 26. The newsletter also said Route 9 would be let through the closed section for now. The city's Gentry Lane School Street page now says "the end of November," with an open house on November 16, 2026, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Charlottesville Early Learning Center.
The open house falls about a month before CAT's earliest possible Route 9 date. It is also the closest public session on the calendar to the bridge closure, for anyone who wants to ask how the two will work together.
The Bridge Clock Starts at the Detour
Under the city's bid documents, this is a full replacement of the Dairy Road bridge over the Route 250 Bypass, paid for through the State of Good Repair program with state and federal money. The procurement portal posted a Notice of Award to Caton Construction Group, Inc. on October 21, 2026. Caton's base bid is listed at $4,983,621.08.
January 4, 2027 is the latest date on-site work can begin. In September, the city manager's quarterly report to neighborhood associations answered a question from Greenleaf Terrace by saying the project was "anticipated to begin this winter/early spring."
The rest of the contract schedule depends on when the road closes. The terms are:
- Substantial completion by February 29, 2028, or 335 days after the full Dairy Road closure and detour begin, whichever comes first.
- An incentive payment if the new bridge opens to traffic within 335 calendar days of the closure.
- A possible penalty from the city if it takes longer than 365 days.
- Final completion by May 15, 2028, or 45 days after substantial completion, whichever comes first.
The timing is set so that once the detour signs go up, the contractor has a financial reason to reopen the bridge within roughly eleven months. A closure that starts in early 2027 points to a reopening in late 2027 or early 2028, well before the February 2028 backstop. The detour route and the closure date have not been published yet.
That closure is the unresolved part of the Route 9 question. Gentry Lane will stay open to the bus. Dairy Road will not, for most of a year.
Greenbrier Drive Gets Restriped After the Study
Albemarle County is working with VDOT and Michael Baker International on a study to reconfigure Greenbrier Drive from Whitewood Road to U.S. 29, the county end of the street that runs to the Route 29 corridor. As Charlottesville Community Engagement reported on October 9, preliminary alternatives arrived in September and a design charrette followed that week. Final alternatives are due in December. County staff said the restriping will be done "next year in conjunction with paving," which puts new bike lanes on Greenbrier Drive in 2027, the same year as the bridge closure.
West of the neighborhood, CAT's Route 7 began running every 15 minutes on Monday, October 26, from 6 to 9 a.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays. It runs every 30 minutes at other times and all day Saturday. Route 7 serves Hydraulic Road and Stonefield, and CAT fixed-route service is still free. The city called the change the first of several service improvements paid for by Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.
The Crossing That Stays Put
The John W. Warner Parkway was built with its own paved multi-use path along its entire length. According to the Greenbrier Neighborhood Association, the path runs from Rio Road toward downtown and connects with Schenk's Greenway along McIntire Road. The Rivanna Trails Foundation brought back its rustic trails in the Melbourne-to-Rio corridor after the Parkway opened. The association notes that the trail beside the railroad tracks can get overgrown by kudzu in summer.
The association's McIntire Park page also describes rustic trails behind Charlottesville High School that you can reach from Grove Road, plus a paved path near the bypass that leads toward McIntire Park and the YMCA.
The Dairy Road bridge contract, the Gentry Lane School Street and the Route 9 reroute plan all leave these paths alone. Through 2027, the Parkway path will be the one route from Greenbrier toward downtown whose availability does not depend on a closure date, a contractor's schedule or a transit decision. Here is the order of events:
- Thursday, October 29: Route 9 is on its usual route, and Route 7's 15-minute peak service is in its first week.
- November 16: Gentry Lane School Street open house at the Charlottesville Early Learning Center, 5 to 6:30 p.m.
- End of November: the School Street begins.
- Mid-December, at the earliest: a possible Route 9 change, with an exact date still to come from CAT.
- December: final alternatives for the Greenbrier Drive bike lanes.
- By January 4, 2027: Caton Construction Group must begin on-site work at Dairy Road.
- February 29, 2028, or 335 days after the Dairy Road closure begins, whichever comes first: the contract deadline for the new bridge to open to traffic.
The Loring Woodriff team will keep watching these dates as the Dairy Road detour is announced and CAT sets a final Route 9 date. If you are weighing how next year's routes affect a move within Greenbrier or anywhere nearby, Loring Woodriff Real Estate is happy to talk it through. Let's work together.
