Public hearing on improvements to Route 610 in Augusta County scheduled

The Virginia Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing concerning proposed improvements to Route 610 (Howardsville Turnpike) in Augusta County.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Stuarts Draft Rescue Squad, 10 Manor Road, Stuarts Draft, Va. 24477. In the event of inclement winter weather on January 15 the meeting will be held on January 21 at the same time and location. For meeting notification updates, please refer to VDOT’s Staunton District Projects and Studies page at www.VirginiaDOT.org.

Citizens can come in during the meeting hours and discuss the project on a one-on-one basis with VDOT officials and designers. Written comments can be submitted at the meeting or within 10 days after the meeting date to Lester Kodger, Virginia Department of Transportation, 811 Commerce Road, Staunton, VA  24401-9029. Oral comments can be recorded at the meeting with the assistance of a court reporter.

The purpose of this project is to improve the Route 610 (Howardsville Turnpike) corridor from 1/8 mile east of Route 608 to just east of Campbell Lane. This 0.505-mile long project will widen the road from 22 feet to 28 feet with curb and gutter throughout. It will also improve the roadway alignment and profile to provide better visibility, and realign the intersection of Route 610 and Route 912 (Hodge Street). The project will relocate existing utilities.

Existing access to all properties in the area will be maintained during construction, and new entrances will be constructed.

The average traffic volume at this location was 2,600 vehicles per day in the year 2012. In 2024 traffic is projected to be 3,630 vehicles per day.

The estimate for this project is $4,794,091, including $786,489 for preliminary engineering, $1,000,000 for right of way acquisition and $3,007,602 for construction. Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2016. More details on these proposed improvements can be found on the “Projects and Studies” portion of the VDOT web page.

The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties.

Traffic alerts and traveler information can be obtained by dialing 511. Traffic alerts and traveler information also are available at 511Virginia.org. For other assistance call the VDOT Customer Service Center, available 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week. Citizens can dial 1-800-FOR- ROAD (1-800-367-7623) from anywhere in the state to report road hazards, ask transportation questions, or get information related to Virginia’s roads.

The Staunton District Twitter feed is at @VaDOTStaunton. VDOT can be followed on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter andYouTube. RSS feeds are also available for statewide information. The VDOT Web page is located atwww.VirginiaDOT.org.