Governor Terry McAuliffe announced today that the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) approved funding for transportation projects that will improve travel and economic development in the Lynchburg District. The projects are part of the Six-Year Improvement Program, which allocates $13.1 billion to transportation improvements statewide over the next six years beginning July 1.
“The program reflects input from the community, including a regional public meeting held over the spring and written comments received in the last few months,” said McAuliffe. “The public played an important role in helping the CTB to shape the transportation program, making the best use of limited resources on projects that will ease congestion and move traffic more efficiently.”
Project highlights in the Lynchburg District include:
- Odd Fellows Road – The program allocates $52 million to building a new interchange along Route 29/460 at Odd Fellows Road and improvements to Odd Fellows Road, as well as to Greenview Drive.
- Route 501 Bridge – Also key to the movement of traffic and goods through the area is the Route 501 Bridge over the James River at the Amherst/Bedford County line. Preliminary engineering and right of way for the project are complete and construction will start soon.
- Route 29 bridges over the Norfolk Southern Railroad – Several bridge replacement projects on Route 29 are included in the program. The projects are critical to maintain the north-south traffic flow through the region.
- Charlotte Courthouse sidewalk – This project received additional funds. It will improve safety for pedestrians from George Washington Highway at Route 40 to the Dollar General Store/Dixie Youth Ball Park Road. The project was awarded $214,600 toward the improvements.
- Route 40 Bridge over Louse Creek in Charlotte County – This project will receive an additional allocation of $1.8 million for a total of $5.5 million for the replacement of the structure. Construction is scheduled to take place in Fiscal Year 2016.
- Transit improvements – Track improvements to improve service between Alexandria and Lynchburg.
The six-year program also allocates funding to rehabilitate a total of 100 miles of primary routes in the Lynchburg District.
The program will be updated later this year to comply with the new prioritization process, which was signed into law under House Bill 2 by McAuliffe earlier this year. Under the process, projects will be objectively selected based on regional needs.
The CTB will work in collaboration with localities to set weights for key factors like congestion mitigation, economic development, accessibility, safety and environmental quality. Specific projects will then be screened and selected for funding beginning in July 2016.
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