A highway project to connect Odd Fellows Road to the U.S. 29/460 Bypass in Lynchburg should generate $18 million of earnings for people in the region, according to the governor’s office.
The mile-long stretch of new road is expected to create 53 jobs in the next six years, economists with the Virginia Department of Transportation said in a news release issued by the governor’s office Tuesday.
The project would create a new intersection of Odd Fellows Road with U.S. 29/460 near Candlers Mountain. Construction is expected to start in 2014.
About 10 months ago, plans for the Odd Fellows Road project leapt from a back page of VDOT’s planning books after state Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, and other legislators asked state highway officials to include it among projects Gov. Bob McDonnell was starting.
A new interchange would “create better access to undeveloped land” at the base of Candlers Mountain, the analysts said.
The land is owned by Liberty University.
Reduced congestion on Candlers Mountain Road also could be a benefit, the analysts said, along with the possibility of fewer accidents at the intersection of Mayflower Drive and Odd Fellows Road.
Another economic benefit would be reduced travel time for truckers and motorists moving between the Lynchburg Expressway/U.S. 29 Business and the bypass.
Better access to First Industrial Park on Odd Fellows Road was cited as another benefit.
Virginia can expect to take in $1.28 million per year in taxes, and local governments should collect $107,000, the economic analysis said.
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