The Botetourt Board of Supervisors was expected to apply to have three road projects included in the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) six-year Smart Scale funding program when it met Tuesday afternoon.
The board was also expected to endorse two regional Smart Scale applications for projects in the county— both related to I-81.
The submissions will be reviewed by VDOT and move on to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which will decide later in the year what projects get added to the state’s six-year road improvement plan. Generally, projects added to the road improvement plan go into the sixth year, so work on any funded project is likely at least seven years out.
County officials held an open house last Thursday at Greenfield Education and Training Center so the public could view and make comments on the county’s proposed road projects— all of which are in the Daleville/Greenfield area.
One of the projects was detailed in last week’s Herald— a proposed restricted crossing U-turn intersection, or RCUT, is the VDOT’s favored alternative for handling traffic at the US 220 intersection with International Parkway that leads into the industrial/commerce park and Ashley Way that leads into Ashley Plantation.
A second project, similar RCUTs at five median crossovers on US 220 in Daleville, was also expected to get the supervisors’ endorsement.
That “Superstreet Improvement” project also includes two stoplights at entrances to Lord Botetourt High School. Those lights would eliminate the need for staff to stop US 220 traffic in the afternoons when school is letting out.
The southern entrance light would also include an RCUT in the median so vehicles exiting the school would have to turn right, proceed south on US 220 and use a median cut for a U-turn to proceed north.
The northern access stoplight is designed to allow right-turns and left-turns from the high school onto US 220, with two dedicated left-turn lanes across the median.
Other RCUTs are at the Valley Road intersection which would allow right-turns only and using the Catawba Road intersection for a U-turn to head south. Others that would restrict left turns and require using an RCUT for left turns are at the Wendover Road and Tinker Mill Road intersections.
A third application seeks funding to make improvements to part of Glebe Road and to install a crosswalk on Glebe Road from The Glebe to Daleville Town Center.
A fourth proposed project has been “prescreened out.” It involved making improvements to Brughs Mill Road between US 11, I-81 and US 220 by straightening some curves and realigning part of the road to accommodate more traffic safely.
County Management Assistant Cody Sexton said the US 220 RCUT project in Daleville and the Brughs Mill Road project are related since VDOT wanted to consider a more holistic approach to dealing with the growing amount of traffic on US 220.
He said the proposed RCUTs and stoplights at LBHS on US 220 are designed to help move traffic more smoothly and safely through Daleville, perhaps mitigating the need to straighten Brughs Mill Road.
Sexton said the Roanoke Valley Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) has already committed $300,000 for the RCUT design at the US 220 intersection at Botetourt Center at Greenfield. That helps “buy down” the cost and may improve the chance of the project getting listed on the six-year road plan because of the way projects are scored.
The two projects submitted by regional organizations included the proposed safety improvements on northbound I-81 between milepost 167.4 and milepost 169.5 at Buchanan. The Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission is submitting that project.
The TPO is submitting the other I-81 project that involves making improvements to southbound I-81 between Exit 150 and the truck weigh station. That involves widening I-81. That would also involve widening the bridge over Tinker Creek.