The diverging diamond interchange planned for Interstate 64 at North Gayton Road. (Henrico County images)
Henrico County is making progress in its yearslong effort to secure approvals and funding for a new interchange and other traffic improvements in the Short Pump area.
In an update to county supervisors Tuesday, Public Works Director Terrell Hughes reported that Henrico has secured nearly $91 million in state and regional funding for over $300 million in planned transportation improvements primarily along West Broad Street and Interstate 64, including a long-sought interchange at Gayton Road.
The funding consists of nearly $65 million recently awarded through the Central Virginia Transportation Authority (CVTA) and $26 million in state Smart Scale funding previously awarded for improvements along Broad Street specifically.
The county is applying for an additional $60 million through a federal grant program and committing to provide the same amount locally through county debt financing, via either a voter-approved bond referendum or a Virginia Resources Authority bond. It’s seeking the remainder of the funds needed for the projects from the next round of state Smart Scale funding.
The board approved those latter actions at its meeting Tuesday evening. In the update that preceded the meeting, County Manager John Vithoulkas said the $60 million funding commitment from the county would help in securing the additional federal and state funding.
John Vithoulkas
“By indicating your intent to fund this project with local dollars … you are basically pushing this project forward in the eyes of the folks that are going to be providing the revenue,” Vithoulkas told the board.
“We’ve been successful with CVTA revenue. This takes it to another level,” he said, adding that the bond financing would not affect funding for county operations. “This project is needed for the continued vibrancy of that Short Pump area.”
In addition to the Gayton interchange, the county’s improvements package includes additional lanes and modifications to parts of Broad Street and the highways and a reduction of the cloverleaf interchange at Broad near Innsbrook that would remove the on-ramp from its southeast quadrant and include pedestrian improvements connecting Innsbrook with Short Pump.
Desired improvements include additional lanes and expanded ramps on Interstate 295 and Route 288.
Estimated to total $305 million, the improvements package has increased in cost since Hughes last updated the board a year ago. Hughes attributed the increase to updated construction cost data, adding that the estimates for specific improvements are likely to change based on their timing. The Gayton interchange remains estimated at $150 million, while the Broad Street interchange remains $170 million.
Last summer, Henrico secured state and federal approvals for the improvements package, allowing the process to move forward to the environmental study and design phases. Hughes said a federal environmental study administered by the state is underway now and would likely recommend sound walls to mitigate noise impacts. The study also identifies any potential impacts to cultural resources and disadvantaged populations.
Hughes said the county has applied for the federal grant before and can apply for it again if needed. He said its previous application ranked a 2 out of a possible 3 because of uncertainty over how the rest of the improvements package would be funded.
Terrell Hughes
“Some of the feedback we got is they were unclear on how we were going to fund the full funding picture of the project, and surprisingly they were unclear on some of the safety benefits, so those are two things that we’re working on bulking up with our application,” Hughes told the board.
The federal grant is awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation awards through its Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant program. Hughes explained, “It’s intended for big projects, so we’re competing with other big projects around the country. This is one of our big projects, so if we don’t get it, we’ll get the feedback and try again.”
The improvements are aimed at reducing traffic congestion and improving safety along Broad and I-64 from the Broad interchange to Route 288. Improvements to Interstate 295 also are planned.
Hughes described the area as the highest crash corridor in the county, with over 2,100 crashes reported over a six-year period through 2023. Of those, 500 involved injuries and 10 were fatal, Hughes said.
County traffic projections show that if no improvements are made, westbound backups for the Broad Street exit to Short Pump during peak traffic hours could stretch as far as the Glenside Drive interchange by 2046.
“With growth in the county, conditions are going to get worse,” Hughes said Tuesday. “We’re already overcapacity.”
Removing the on-ramp from the Broad Street interchange’s southeast quadrant would remove traffic from Broad merging into highway traffic, which has been contributing to backups for the westbound off-ramp to Short Pump.
Improvements to the I-64-Broad Street interchange would include eliminating the southeast quadrant onramp.
With the southeast quadrant on-ramp removed, eastbound traffic on Broad would access I-64 west by way of a dedicated, signalized lane to turn left onto the northeast quadrant on-ramp that runs beside CarMax and currently serves westbound traffic from Broad.
The new Gayton Road interchange would be a diverging diamond design, in which travel lanes temporarily cross sides in a manner meant to facilitate traffic flow. Favored by VDOT, the design involves fewer signals and facilitates pedestrian and bicycle crossings.
A diverging diamond has been installed at the Zion Crossroads interchange near Charlottesville and another is in the works for the Ashland Road interchange in Goochland County, which has secured the $76 million needed for that project and is working to secure the needed state and federal approvals. An interchange access study for the Goochland interchange was scheduled for completion this month.
Goochland officials said they intend to submit the IAR study in June, and a second round of public outreach is scheduled for late May to gauge feedback on design alternatives for the interchange. Preliminary engineering work for the Goochland interchange is expected to last through 2025, with right-of-way acquisition scheduled in 2027 and construction in 2028-2030, according to Goochland’s website.
Timing for the Gayton interchange and other Henrico improvements is contingent on the remaining funding being secured. Hughes has said the projects would be phased, with the Gayton interchange completed first. The design and environmental studies would be a two- to three-year process, and Hughes has said construction on Gayton could start in three to four years if the funding falls into place.
Note: This story has been updated with input from Goochland County provided after publication.
One thing they forget to mention though is the Zion Crossroads interchange might be changing to a double teardrop roundabout.
If this is true, I feel like every 10 years they change that configuration.
“With growth in the county, conditions are going to get worse,” Hughes said Tuesday. “We’re already overcapacity.”
Merriam-Webster –
overcapacity: excessive capacity for production or services in relation to demand
Also can be used to mean that the resource is not adequate for the amount it is being used:
the state of being more or greater in amount than what can be contained:
Most maternity wards are working at overcapacity.
The screaming, over-capacity crowd was jammed into the venue.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/overcapacity
I think if it had said over capacity, with a space between the words, it might be clearer. We are at capacity, we are under capacity, we are over capacity, we are exceeding capacity, etc.
This an example of induced demand. I agree traffic in this area is horrible and unfortunately adding more lanes and spending $300M+ on these small projects will only help minimally. We need to rethink W Broad St and how we move around the region. It’s interesting how people are upset over $400M being spent on a 40 mile bike path, but no one seems to mind us blindly spending just as much on one interchange being reconfigured.
Are people upset about the bike path? I’ve heard nothing but raves.
For me personally, I think the Zion Crossroads diverging diamond design is scary and and especially dangerous at night or in inclement weather such as fog or heavy rain. I’m very disappointed Henrico is choosing cheap over safe.
Left turns across oncoming traffic are also dangerous at night and foggy conditions but from what I have read the diverging diamond design cuts down significantly on that kind of collision.
I have never understood why the diverging diamond is any better. I guess people that study this stuff and work with it think it is. It seems to me that whatever you gain in one area, you lose in another.
The fun thing about the Zion’s Crossroads deal is that for a moment I can pretend I’m in England
We wouldn’t be in this mess if Richmond had told the oil and automobile lobby no that they were not going to scrap the Richmond Street Car system in 1948. In a different time line it would not be out of the question for the streetcar lines to be running past the Route 288 interchange due to the fast amounts of development and parking lots that are half as big.