By Ashley McLeod, staff writer
Feb 5, 2016, 12:43
COLONIAL HEIGHTS — Citizens in Colonial Heights should begin to prepare themselves as the construction of both the new roundabout project and the new Kroger are set to begin soon.
As of now, acquisitions of land parcels are still being negotiated, but the roundabout team at VDOT is hoping to begin their construction in March, with a completion date of Fall of 2017.
With construction looming, VDOT held a town meeting at the Colonial Heights Courthouse, where citizens could come and learn more about the roundabout and how it works, as well as talk to different representatives involved in the project, to answer any questions had by those in the city.
VDOT Communications Manager Lindsey Legrand led a presentation during the meeting, which was meant to inform citizens about the reasoning for the roundabout, and how it would work.
Thoughts of the project began in 2009 when noticeable issues with the Interstate 95 ramps coming on to Temple Avenue.
“We noticed that we were seeing some mounting traffic volumes, and some higher crash rates, so we wanted to do something to help mitigate both of those issues,” said Legrand.
The department began to look at several different options to try and bring these issues down and studied nine alternatives before coming to the decision of a roundabout.
In December of 2011, Colonial Heights City Council voted to support the concept, and plans for the roundabout began.
According to Legrand, the intersection at the end of the interstate ramps and Temple Avenue is one of the busiest in the corridor. The goal for changing the signalized intersection to a roundabout was not only made to cut down the amount of traffic and accidents but to better prepare the area in the long run.
“We know that this is a progressive time for Colonial Heights; there are lots of changes, lots of new development that are happening so we want to make sure we are able to best manage those traffic volumes, not just for today, but for the future,” said Legrand.
Currently, an approximate 30,000 vehicles pass through the intersection daily. The roundabout will allow for a better flow of traffic through that area while improving the safety of those vehicles.
A signalized intersection contains 32 potential points of conflict or points where an accident could possibly occur. These types of accidents include head-on collisions and T-bones, the more serious collisions, which may have a higher severity of injury.
A roundabout contains only eight points of conflict, with the types of accidents more likely to be rear ends or sideswipes. The severity of accidents in a roundabout decreases as well.
“Crash rates overall, the severity goes down, and what really drops dramatically is the injury rate. It’s very rare to have a fatality on a roundabout, very rare to even have an injury,” said Rich Clifton, Deputy Design Manager with Allan Myers, a construction company working on the project.
In studies on roundabouts, it has been found that there is a 35% reduction in crashes and a 76% reduction in injuries.
“Roundabouts inherently get drivers to slow down a little bit more. They eliminate left turns, and reduce delay,” said Legrand.
Citizens will notice work beginning very soon, which will include utility relocations, and once spring hits, is when the more noticeable construction will begin.
The project will realign the interstate ramps and will move them just west of where the current intersection is. The ramps coming off of the interstate are expected to be 500 to 1,000 feet longer than the current ramps, which Legrand said will “improve sight distance, vehicle capacity, and will better help transition traffic from an interstate speed to city limit speed.”
Wanda Rodriguez and Alise Collier attended the meeting, and both agreed that their opinion on the roundabout project had changed from when they first arrived.
“I wasn’t good with it in the beginning. But I’m better about it now than I was before,” said Rodriguez. “I didn’t realize they were going to have a lane going straight through going west without even going into the roundabout.”
The roundabout will have a bypass lane, so if you are coming from the mall on the way to Boulevard, there is no need to enter the roundabout at all.
“And also if it reduces crashes because they’re always having accidents there at that intersection, I think it’s going to work out pretty well,” said Collier.
Rodriguez was also impressed with the size of the project, and the change to the interstate ramps.
“It’s bigger than I thought. I was scared because when you come off of 95 you don’t have a lot of time. And now it goes way around,” said Rodriguez.
Once the project begins, Temple Avenue will remain open, as well as the exits from the interstate. The VDOT team said that there may be lane closures at some points during the construction, but there will always be at least one lane open in both directions for travel.
The VDOT team also will have an immense amount of resources going out to the public in the future in order to educate the public on how the roundabout works. The team also has what Legrand called a “robust signage plan” for the project, which will include a lot of signs and pavement markings in order to better ease the transition.
The cost of construction is approximately $13 million, with a total cost of $20 million.
• For information on the roundabout project, including a detailed diagram, visit virginiadot.org/projects/richmond/i-95_temple_ave.asp.
