Getting around

 

Roads in Goochland are built and maintained by VDOT, not the county. For the past year or so, the supervisors have held regular workshops led by Austin Goyne, who oversees all transportation—read road—projects for the county.

On December 12, the latest of these sessions, and the last for outgoing supervisors Ken Peterson, District 5 and Susan Lascolette, District 1, took place.

Aso in attendance were Board Chair Neil Spoonhower, District 2; Board Vice Chair Charlie Vaughters, District 4; County Attorney Tara McGee; and incoming supervisors Tom Winfree, District 3 and Jonathan Lyle, District 5.

Earlier that morning, RichmondBizsense.com published an article explaining that “Project Rocky,” the huge distribution facility approved on Ashland Road in 2022, was cancelled when the end user decided not to move forward with the project. https://richmondbizsense.com/2023/12/12/project-rocky-developer-scraps-planned-fulfillment-center-goochland-county-says/

Goyne said that the approval of a second Ashland Road bridge over I64 was secured as the result of a traffic study there, not because of Project Rocky, and will move forward. He said that timing of those improvements, which were initially tied to the completion of Project Rocky around 2028, could change. The funding for those improvements, said Goyne, has been approved. He expected more details about the design of the improvements would be shared at meetings with VDOT later in December.

The temporary measures proffered by Project Rocky, including a traffic signal at the south end of the existing Ashland Road bridge over I64, will not be built without private funding. “For the next four or five years, we’ve just got to live with what we’ve got,” Goyne said of traffic conditions in the Ashland Road corridor.

Conceptual plan for Ashland Road diverging diamond

The park and ride on the east side of Ashland Road north of I64 will be moved and enlarged, perhaps beginning in 2026, but details are still in the works. This project, initiated and fully funded by VDOT, is separate from the interchange improvements. Goyne said that there are no current plans to add charging stations for electric vehicles at the park and ride.

General transportation funding was discussed. Goochland competes with the rest of Virginia for road dollars. Areas where congestion is constant, unlike Goochland, where we have morning and evening rush hours, tend to get more road funds. Goyne navigates 12 to 15 different funding sources and mechanisms to pay for county road projects.

The Courthouse Village Sandy Hook/Fairground Road roundabout is not quite finished, explained Goyne. Discussions about maintenance of its center and what, if anything, should be put there followed. While there has been no formal “community conversation” about this, unsolicited suggestions, “some great, some not so great”, have been made by citizens. The roundabout at 522 and 250 has been landscaped.  Goyne said he believes its maintenance costs may be shared by Louisa County and the state.

Landscaping could require irrigation, which could further complicate things, or it could be paved over needing no maintenance. Discussions about this could be held in the new year.

The Hockett Road realignment was the next topic. This will connect Hockett and Ashland Roads at the existing stub on the south side of 250 via a roundabout on Hockett roughly opposite the veterinary office just north of Holly Lane. Initial design concepts that removed the existing traffic signal at Hockett and 250 and closed off the ability to proceed north to St. Matthews Lane generated robust protest from area residents. While official word on this has not been received, Goyne believes that the existing traffic signal will remain in place. The time frame for this is around 2028.

The single lane roundabout planned for the westbound I64 Oilville Road interchange, is desperately needed to deal with the dangerous queuing in the afternoon rush hour, said Goyne. As the interstate is a federal road, $4 million was for the project through the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee. Funding for the remainder of the cost is being pursued through revenue sharing and other sources. The rights of way for this project are already owned by VDOT, which will shave about a year off the construction timeline.

Goyne discussed complicated mechanisms involved in securing funding for road projects. His focus on this and good working relationships he’s built with VDOT, are bringing long needed road improvements to fruition.

Criteria used by the state to prioritize road funding puts public safety first and economic development second.

The bridge over Whitehall Creek on Whitehall Road has been declared structurally deficient. Several other bridges in the county have weight limits. Fire-Rescue Chief D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson said that there are three bridges unable to support the weight of fire engines—at least 30 tons—that require using longer routes, which adds three to five minutes to fire response time. This also slows water shuttle operations during a working fire in areas not served by public water with fire hydrants. The bridge on Old Columbia Road, which is limited to 13 tons, said Ferguson, is a good example. Ambulances are lighter than fire trucks and are not affected by the situation.

Goyne said that bridges are a tricky scenario for funding. Unless a bridge is declared structurally deficient, like the bridge on Whitehall Road, it’s hard to fund money to fix or replace them, but he will keep looking for ways to get the bridge replaced. Funding criteria for bridge funding tends to give priority to heavily used structures in highly populated areas. The cost of replacing bridges, some of which are built of timber, with concrete structures is too expensive to fund with maintenance dollars, further complicating the matter.

Goyne contends that the county’s transportation priority list is one economic development project away from a reshuffle. The list is fluid.

Peterson said that while the Hockett Road realignment will address congestion at the northern end of that road, expected economic development for thousands of acres, will put pressure on weak spots at the southern end where it “tees” at Rt. 6. This, said Peterson, is already a “failing” intersection. When Capital One lets out in the afternoon, there can be as many as 30 cars waiting to turn left toward Rt. 288. Before more traffic is added there, suggested Peterson, plans for a right turn lane, a traffic signal, or other mitigation, should be addressed. This could cause a priority shuffle.

Peterson said that the major thoroughfare plan, created at least five years ago, included all county roads and highlight trouble spots. This enabled the county to allocate scarce transportation resources to fix the worst places. He cited the intersection of Broad Street Road and Rt. 288 in Centerville, which was built with no traffic signals creating a deadly dysfunction. This was given top funding priority and now safely manages traffic.

He said that the major thoroughfare plan needs to be updated but not until the county strategic plan, which he characterized as the “umbrella” plan under which all other strategic plans fall, is updated. This will identify gaps in service and ensure that services are expanded to meet increased demand for them.

Peterson said that the fresh eyes brought to these matters by the incoming board will bring new perspectives to the issues facing Goochland.

To watch the video of this meeting go to the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ click on “watch county meetings” and under BoS choose December 12.