I had been meaning to write a post about my increasing appearances at the Ukrop’s in Roanoke, which opened several months ago along Franklin Road. I have found myself frequenting the grocery store much more regularly over the past couple months and have been quite pleased with the prices, quality, and atmosphere of the store.

Then, I noticed a recent article in The Roanoke Times which suggested that sales at the store are currently not sufficient for it to continue to operate long-term.

Say it isn’t so Roanoke!

Well, over the past few months I have done I would say at least 80% of my grocery shopping at Ukrop’s. Shopping that used to occur almost exclusively at Food Lion and very occasionally at Kroger’s. As of yet I haven’t got into the Fresh Market scene, and I never, ever grocery shop at Walmart.

Since moving into my house in the City back in 2005, and until recently, I had done 99% of my grocery shopping at Food Lion. I usually stop at the one at Oak Grove Plaza, or the one near the Salem Valley 8. I much prefer 2-3 grocery trips a week filling up one of those hand-baskets each time, instead of one big trip a week and pushing around a cart.

For the most part, everything was fine in shopping at Food Lion. If they didn’t carry particular items (such as the only flavor of food my cat will eat) I would reluctantly make a stop at Kroger’s.

But, there came a time a few months ago when I took my grandmother out to help with her grocery shopping, and she wanted to go to Ukrop’s.

Quite frankly, I considered Ukrop’s to be a “store for the rich” because it was new and had an extensive dining area with prepared foods. Now, I make OK money I guess, but I live in a modest 2 bedroom home and drive a paid for 6-year-old car. I’m hardly rich. So for the longest time I had just stayed with my routine in shopping at Food Lion, which I considered to be a more thrifty grocery store.

But, as I was to find out, for many of the items I regularly purchase the prices at Ukrop’s are very competitive with Food Lion and Kroger’s. In some cases, the prices at Ukrop’s are even noticeably cheaper. As for the items that are more costly at Ukrop’s (such as meats and produce) I think the higher quality very easily offsets the increase.

Secondary to the quality and pricing, and much more superficial, but I just like the layout of the store. Instead of the standard long aisles, there are these half-aisles with a walkway down the middle.

Produce and meat that is on display doesn’t look sloppy at Ukrop’s, but all looks very clean and appetizing.

And I absolutely love the self-checkout, it saves me considerable time. I realize the idea of self-checkout basically does away with several job positions, but it really is much easier for an introvert like me.

I work in the downtown area so the store is quite convenient to hit on the way home to my house in Virginia Heights.

If there is even any traded, I don’t own stock in Ukrop’s, so I have really nothing to gain by writing in favor of the store. Just the hope that this nice addition to the Roanoke area makes it, and continues to be in business for a good while.

Have any of you ever shopped there? How was your experience?

I remember many months ago when the first talk of the new Art Museum had begun, and then earlier this year the actual construction and overall shape of the building starting taking real form.

(A few weeks ago I snapped some photos of the museum in a previous post.)

To say the design was greeted with mixed reviews is probably an understatement. I encountered people who thought it was “pretty cool”, others who thought it was “different”, and also a number of people who considered it an eyesore and very out of place in regards to the downtown area.

I fall into the “pretty cool” category.

I always thought the museum design to be very futuristic looking, it’s far from the typical 4 square walls and a roof kind of building. And I’m still amazed at how it was somehow squeezed into a rather small area at the corner along Salem Avenue and Williamson Road, and just adjacent to the railroad tracks.

Parts of the museum even stretch out rather close to the Williamson Road bridge nearby which stretches over the railroad tracks.

The museum design itself, combined with its modest footprint, all adds to the uniqueness I think.

I couldn’t make it down for the grand opening this weekend. But, sometime in the coming weeks I hope to check it out from the inside, after having marveled at the outside.

Were any of ya’ll able to make it down for the grand opening? First impressions?

And as a final note, as for the naysayers, the museum is there and now in all of our backyards, and I don’t know that talking about it under a negative light is particularly productive. (I’m trying to be nice.)

About a week ago a reader (who currently lives out of town) emailed and asked me to post an update with some recent pictures of the new Taubman Museum of Art, which is scheduled to open in just a little over a month.

And finally by late this weekend the rain had stopped and the weather cleared up enough for me to head downtown and snap a few photos.

(If there is something in Roanoke you’d like to read about or see pictures of just drop me an email and I’ll work at putting it on this site.)

A sign in the side/back yard of the museum confirms the opening date of November 8, 2008.

The view as seen standing at the intersection of Salem Avenue and Williamson Road. Hotel Roanoke visible to the right.

Looking down Salem Avenue, Wachovia Tower in the background.

The height of the museum is basically at a comfortable eye level when standing on the nearby Williamson Road bridge.

The back side of the museum is in close proximity to the railroad tracks.

A view from the side/back when standing on the sidewalk of the Railwalk.

A very popular shortcut in Roanoke is a road that runs basically through a section of Towers Shopping Center.

It’s formally known as 23rd Street S.W. In fact, I believe because traffic is so heavy on the road that sometime ago oversized speed bumps were built to slow drivers down.

This road links Brandon and Colonial Avenues and prevents having to drive all the way to the corner, at the intersection where a CVS store is now located.

No Left Turn

Well, as of several days ago the traffic on this road is probably a good bit less than it has been.

When traveling northeast on Colonial Avenue (going from The Roanoker towards Towers Shopping Center) a sign and raised center median are in place to prevent left turns to 23rd Street SW

As part of recent construction in the area access to this road has been restricted to help minimize its use as a shortcut, and overall improve traffic flow. Espeically to help improve traffic flow coming off of I-581/Route 220 during peak times of the day.

Automobiles traveling northeast on Colonial Avenue (after passing The Roanoker restaurant on the right) will not be allowed to make a left turn onto 23rd Street SW anymore.

And, off the record, as I was taking these pictures a police officer was on site nearby I assume to help enforce this new restriction. Just in the few minutes I was in the area 2 cars were pulled over in the parking lot of Towers Shopping Center, for what I don’t know for sure but I can probably take a guess.

Will this change have any affect on your drivng routes?

It’s been a couple months since I last wrote about the construction going on in the vicinity of Towers Shopping Center. And, things sure have been changing.

Most notably, there is now a traffic light at the intersection with 23rd Street, which I believe has been frequently considered a popular shortcut between Brandon and Colonial Avenue.

New traffic light (at the bottom of the hill) now working on Brandon Avenue

This is all part of an effort by VDOT to help control congestion that can occur in the entire area, especially during peak times in the mornings and late afternoons. During these times, substantial traffic can back up as drivers attempt to exit from from I-581/Route 220 to Colonial Avenue in front of Towers Shopping Center.

And Brandon Avenue itself is a common route from the downtown area to other parts of the city and county, as well as to Salem. I for one travel this road almost daily driving home during rush hour.

From now on there will just be one exception, I may on occasion be required to stop at the new traffic light and allow drivers to turn left from 23rd Street to Brandon Avenue. Until now, making that turn seemed nearly impossible around the 5 o’clock hour in the late afternoon.

Cars on Brandon Avenue stop at a new traffic light to allow a bus to turn left from 23rd Street

I’m not necessarily a big fan of traffic lights in general but this seems like a overall a good move and had been increasingly necessary to better control the flow of traffic.

Will these new road changes cause you to alter your daily or infrequent driving routes at all?

A few months ago I noticed a new sidewalk along Brandon Avenue at Towers Shopping Mall. Then, a new turn lane with new pavement and paint. And now a new traffic light is very easily noticed along Brandon Avenue at the intersection with 23rd Street.

The traffic light is being installed but not currently in use, yet.

It’s all part of a construction project to lessen traffic congestion in that area, especially during peak hours of the day, according to VDOT.

New Traffic Light on Brandon Avenue (near Towers Shopping Center) at the Intersection with 23rd Street SW (6/8/08)

Changes to the popular shortcut on 23rd Street

As a result of all of the construction will be restricted use of 23rd Street, the popular shortcut road which connects Colonial Avenue to Brandon Avenue. Making a left turn from Colonial Avenue onto 23rd Street will not be permitted when construction is complete.

Instead, drivers will need to continue on Colonial and connect with Brandon Avenue at the traffic light near the CVS Pharmacy and Harkrader Park.

Widening of Colonial Avenue

Also, a section of ground along the side of Colonial Avenue (near the ramp for Route 220) has been leveled in preparation for adding a dedicated right turn lane onto Wonju Street, according to VDOT.

Construction on Colonial Avenue (6/8/08)

All of the construction is projected to continue through November 2008, and I’ll update again as I’m able.

Over the holiday weekend I set out to capture some stillframes of the Keagy Village and nearby The Townes at Hidden Valley projects. I aim to update these at least once each calendar month until complete.

A sign for Keagy Village (visible across the street from Sugar Loaf Mountain Road) states that stores and restaurants are to open Spring 2008.

But, there’s less than a month left of Spring.

Here’s a picture of the Keagy Village construction site:

Keagy Village construction site (5/25/08)

As for The Townes at Hidden Valley, the first building appears to be nearing completition. But, it seems in my experience with similiar construction projects that the first building tends to go up rather quickly, and others follow as arrangements are made and contracts signed.

Accordinnig to a site plan, there are over 3 dozen residential buildings planned.

The Townes at Hidden Valley construction site (5/25/08)

I’m still amazed at what is going on in this entire area, and can only imagine what it’ll look like in 1, 2, and 5 years from now.

A month has already gone by since I last updated the new housing developments at both Maple Leaf Farms and Madison Field. So, I recently set out to grab a couple photos of the construction sites and pass along some general information about the projects as part of the Update 30.

Maple Leaf Farms

Maple Leaf Farms seen along Grandin Road Ext is quickly nearing completion on its second home. This is only the second of some two dozen total lots the area has available for building homes, according to sign at the site.

Construction at Maple Leaf Farms (5/17/08)

And, according to an online listing, houses in this new subdivision will carry a price tag of upwards to $700k. This I would say is far greater a price than other typical homes in the immediate neighboring areas.

Madison Field

Last month, Madison Field was looking for its first home buyer and now appears to have found one. The real estate sign in the front lawn of the newly constructed house proclaims “Under Contract” at the bottom.

Construction at Madison Field, Realtor Sign for Future Building Site in Foreground. Photo taken from a Sidewalk on Overland Road. (5/18/08)

Some homes at this development are priced at close to $400k.

Subsequent to this first house securing a contract, other signs have popped up around at the other open building lots. In total, several more lots are available in this area, as suggested by a sign on the site.

More updates next month.