Most local residents fully endorsing Rte. 155 project
Bicycle and fitness enthusiasts are fully endorsing a proposal to widen Route 155, thus allowing for bike paths along both sides of the highway through New Kent and Charles City counties. And those seeking enhanced safety for both motorists and bike riders are applauding the plan, too.
Several local residents voiced comments to Virginia Department of Transportation officials during a May 4 public meeting hosted by VDOT at New Kent Fire and Rescue Station 1 in Providence Forge.
The meeting focused on a 1.8-mile section of Route 155 starting just north of the Charles City line and running through Providence Forge before ending at the Old Forge Road entrance to the Minitree Hill subdivision.
The section, dubbed phase one of the overall project, is pegged at $3.5 million. Money to pay for the work is coming through a federal grant administered by the Richmond Metropolitan Planning Organization.
VDOT project manager Ian Millikan said construction work could begin as early as spring 2012 with completion expected later that year.
“In nine months, we expect to approach property owners for right of way,” he said. “Then another nine to 18 months after that, construction begins.”
Design plans call for widening Route 155 to create two motor vehicle travel lanes that are each a uniform 11 feet in width. Those lanes are to be flanked by three foot wide paved shoulders suitable for bicycles. Although the shoulders are not being marked as an official bike route, the extra pavement keeps bikes and motor vehicles from interacting with possible tragic results.
No widening work, however, is to take place in the Providence Forge village from just south of the CSX Railroad crossing to the end of a curve just beyond NAPA Auto Parts and A Wild Bunch florist shop.
Looking over aerial maps of the route, Virginia Baker, who lives along the Route 155 section on the north side of Providence Forge, said, “I guess it will be nice. It will be nice for people who want to ride bikes.”
David Kump, who resides along the same stretch and will be affected by right of way, gave the proposal a lukewarm vote of approval.
“I’m not a participant in bike riding, so that’s what makes it kind of hard to swallow,” he said. “But maybe it will give me something so I can walk to the post office and not get run over.”
New Kent resident Joy Zeh weighed in on the safety aspect, saying the bike paths will contribute to making the 155 corridor much safer for bicyclists as well as motorists.
“It seems like a really well thought out plan,” she added.
Linda Burnet, whose Active Life Fitness Center is opening soon in the Maidstone development at New Kent Courthouse, said the bike paths fit in well with her business. The final phases in VDOT’s plan extend the bike paths from the 155/249 intersection east to the courthouse and follow 155 south through Charles City, eventually linking with the Virginia Capital Trail at Charles City Courthouse.
“I love the Capital Trail,” Burnet said. “[The 155 project] is more of a road widening, but we have bike groups with our fitness center and this will be another safe way for our groups to bike.”
Millikan, meanwhile, said VDOT pledges to cooperate with property owners as much as possible when it comes to obtaining right of way.
“We want to try to do things like save trees they don’t want cut,” he said. “We want to work with property owners as much as we can to accommodate everybody.”
He added that funding has been identified for the next phase of the project that proceeds north on 155 from Old Forge Road to the entrance road to Colonial Downs and Brickshire. There is, however, no work schedule developed as yet for the next phase.