Anyone see the land they have staked off at the curvy bit by the Parkway? Does anyone with knowledge of the matter know if they are going to straighten that part out? Never saw anything about it on the master transportation plan, maybe VDOT is doing it unilaterally.

I noticed that too. My guess is they are straightening the section, but I haven't found out for sure.

At first I thought they were widening it too, but now it's pretty clear to me that they're putting in a sidewalk. However OP is wrong: having Sydenstricker widened to two lanes in each direction is in fact on the county's transportation plan.

I asked Herrity's office awhile back; it's definitely a walkway going in between Briarcliff and Galgate.