It has been a pleasant surprise to observe the new upgrades along Fluvanna Avenue in Jamestown. If you haven’t driven on this part of Route 430 recently, you should.

In my view, the newly paved highway from Washington Street to the city line is a vast improvement over the prior road. Not only is the road smoother with a new black-top surface, its configuration is also safer for the traveling public. The new three-lane design with a continuous turning lane in the middle, makes left turns off the highway much easier with less constriction in traffic flow. Of course, the primary economic activity in the whole area continues to be the vibrant dealerships and businesses of Shults Auto Group.

At the city line you will now see a newly renovated boat launch and marina facility. It used to be hidden behind a lot of trees and bushes but now there is an open vista of the Chadakoin River. We tend to forget what a beautiful river it is because we rarely see it. Kudos to the owner of the Marina for providing us this new view!

The marina proprietor also did us a favor in purchasing (and then demolishing) the old Chall Lumber Building. It goes back to my earliest memories of Fluvanna Ave., but it was past its prime. It has been replaced by a nice, newly-seeded green space.

Closer to Washington Street there has also been a new tenant making another investment–there is now a hardware store next to the Save-A-Lot grocery story. Years ago, we called this the Super-Duper Plaza after the super market located there. It is good to have new business and investment in the area.

Not very visible but another relative new presence on the street, is the New Flyer corporation. It is located in the old Quality Markets building. There are over 50 employees there. The company assembles components that go into making mass transit buses. Adjoining New Flyer in the building is another company, Person Centered Services, which specializes in coordinating medical care for people with disabilities.

I have also been reading news articles that there is a renewed effort underway to get City water out to the Strunk Road intersection. This would be a plus for this whole side of town and I expect will be welcomed by the landowners and businesses along the way.

On the downside, have you ridden recently over Washington Street? (It is hard to get to or from Fluvanna Ave. without driving on Washington St. which is also part of State Highway #430.) It is a washboard conglomeration of old pavement, old patches, new patches and leftover cold patches from last winter.

Unfortunately, it looks like we will need to wait another year for improvement on Washington St. The BPU needs to put in a new water line along the right-of-way, and the state now has repaving scheduled for next year. I’m not sure that my car can take another winter of driving over this obstacle course… but I guess I’ll have to try and make it work.

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.