VDOT plans call for two U.S. 29 bypasses in Campbell

A state Department of Transportation update on the much-studied U.S. 29 corridor through Campbell County suggests the eventual construction of two new bypass highways.

While two routes have been proposed previously, this is the first time VDOT has recommended that both highways even-tually be built, County Administrator David Laurrell said. These proposed routes are only for planning purposes and many steps must be taken — as well as many millions in funding secured — before construction could start, he said.

“It doesn’t mean it’s ever going to happen, it doesn’t mean the money is ever going to be available,” Laurrell said. “What it does mean is if the money ever is available, that’s where it will go first.”

The plans were presented to Campbell County supervisors during their meeting Monday and are part of a wider VDOT blueprint of the U.S. 29 corridor from the North Carolina line to Gainesville. They are based on updated studies of the cor-ridor and will officially be presented to the public during meetings this week in Danville and Lynchburg.

The corridor through Campbell County is of particular focus because it has the highest number of stoplights between the North Carolina border and Charlottesville, said community development director Paul Harvey.

In 10 to 20 years, the plan calls for widening U.S. 460 to six lanes between its intersection at U.S. 501 to where it crosses Waterlick Road. From there, the plan would extend a four-lane highway through Evington, crossing Virginia 24 and then merging with the existing U.S. 29 in the Yellow Branch area.

Long-term planning 20 to 50 years in the future calls for building a second new highway paralleling the U.S. 501 corridor around Rustburg to Yellow Branch.

All of this, Laurrell told supervisors Monday, is based on current growth trends and could change based on future trans-portation needs. “I think the big question is, are we going to be driving cars in 50 years?” he said.

Last month, Campbell supervisors asked that the state let the county know any proposed bypass route through Campbell County so it could be incorporated into the comprehensive plan.

As part of that, Harvey said, the county will need to plan for 500-foot-wide corridors through both proposed routes so the county does not approve any major projects that, somewhere in the future, could become roadblocks.

The idea for the western route is to ease traffic congestion along Wards Road while not adding to congestion problems during construction, Harvey said. Additionally, the estimated cost of a new road is not much more than the estimated cost to revamp Wards Road and would eliminate costs associated with traffic delays.

Currently, the price for upgrading Wards Road is estimated at $80 million and the new bypass road is estimated to cost between $90 million and $100 million, Laurrell said.

The county currently is updating the comprehensive plan, but that process is about 80 percent complete, Laurrell said, and next year the county expects to hold a separate update for just the road corridor so that planners, supervisors and citizens have enough time to provide appropriate comment.

“It’s a significant issue that we don’t want to rush,” he said.