The new interchange planned at Ashland Road is envisioned to be a diverging diamond design.
Like the diverging diamond traffic pattern envisioned for both projects, Henrico and Goochland counties are taking crisscrossing paths toward securing new interchanges along Interstate 64 in and west of Short Pump.
Just days after Henrico received a needed federal nod for a new exit at North Gayton Road, its western neighbor won the remaining funding it needed for its own interchange at Ashland Road a couple miles west.
Now, Goochland will be seeking its own conditional approval for a diverging diamond design from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), while Henrico is working to line up the funding it needs for its diverging diamond interchange, noted Austin Goyne, Goochland’s transportation/environmental project manager.
“We kind of did it opposite of each other,” Goyne said Monday. “They got federal approval first and are now seeking money; we got the money and are now seeking that last little bit of federal approval.”
Goochland announced Monday that its $76 million project is fully funded through the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale funding program, following adoption last week of VDOT’s Six Year Improvement Plan that puts just over $42 million toward the project. The remaining funding was previously secured through regional funds from the Central Virginia Transportation Authority.
The announcement came two weeks after Henrico held a press conference announcing the FHWA conditionally approved the diverging diamond design for Gayton and other plans to improve interstate safety and traffic flow in and around Short Pump. In addition to the Gayton interchange, the plans include modifications to the I-64 interchange at West Broad Street, just west of Innsbrook.
The diverging diamond interchange planned for Interstate 64 at North Gayton Road. (Henrico County images)
In remarks during the press conference, Three Chopt District Supervisor Tommy Branin called the approval “a major accomplishment in two respects.”
“It’s the fastest approval we’ve ever received from the FHWA. It also is the largest transportation and safety project this county has ever done in history,” he said.
Next steps include design and environmental studies, which Henrico officials have said are funded. Financing for construction would come later, involving a mix of county, state and federal funds.
The Gayton interchange is projected to cost $150 million, and the 64-Broad improvements are projected at $170 million, though overlap from combining both projects is expected to bring the total to $250 million.
Improvements to the 64-Broad Street interchange would include eliminating the southeast quadrant onramp.
Like Henrico, Goochland is aiming for its interchange to be a diverging diamond design, in which travel lanes temporarily cross sides in a manner meant to facilitate traffic flow. VDOT prefers the design, which involves fewer signals and facilitates pedestrian and bicycle crossings. Diverging diamonds have been installed at Zion Crossroads and the Route 250 interchange near Charlottesville.
Goochland has identified the Ashland Road interchange as its top county transportation priority. The project would widen Ashland Road to four lanes, add a second bridge over the interstate to accommodate the diverging diamond design, and is expected to open up economic development opportunities and improve traffic flow for 200 existing businesses in and around Rockville.
Austin Goyne
“We are looking forward to getting this interchange fixed permanently moving forward,” said Goyne. “It’s really going to open up upwards of 1,000 or so acres of prime economic development lands that are within the Goochland County corridor right there. We are really hoping that springboards a lot of good growth in that area.”
The interchange would also serve the 44-acre Project Rocky site, where California-based Panattoni Development Co. is planning a massive e-commerce fulfillment or distribution center. The facility, to be built off a 650,000-square-foot footprint, would be comparable to the 2.6-million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center near Richmond Raceway.
The user for the Project Rocky facility has yet to be announced. A site plan for the project is under county review.
Goyne said the interchange would benefit the project but is not tied to it.
“They’re certainly not tied together at the hip,” he said. “They certainly do benefit each other. But they’re not conditional upon one another.”
Preliminary engineering work for the project is expected to last through 2025, with right-of-way acquisition scheduled in 2027 and construction in 2029-2030, according to Goochland’s website.
Both the Ashland Road and Gayton Road interchanges are about equidistant from the I-64/Route 288 interchange, where the two counties are also planning and collaborating on additional transportation improvements.
Desired improvements detailed in Henrico’s plans include additional lanes and expanded ramps on I-295 and Route 288.
Those improvements, detailed in Henrico’s conditionally approved plans, include additional lanes and ramp expansions for 288 near its Broad Street interchange in Goochland County, where backups also are frequent.
Goyne said Goochland is aiming to line up funding for those improvements and is working collaboratively with its neighbor to achieve a regional impact.
“There are some improvements listed in the Gayton document that are on Route 288 that are within Goochland County. We are hoping to submit funding applications for three of the projects in that Gayton document this fall,” Goyne said.
“We’re working with Henrico County to prioritize those projects, because they not only benefit Henrico County but they definitely benefit Goochland County as well.”
The new interchange planned at Ashland Road is envisioned to be a diverging diamond design.
Like the diverging diamond traffic pattern envisioned for both projects, Henrico and Goochland counties are taking crisscrossing paths toward securing new interchanges along Interstate 64 in and west of Short Pump.
Just days after Henrico received a needed federal nod for a new exit at North Gayton Road, its western neighbor won the remaining funding it needed for its own interchange at Ashland Road a couple miles west.
Now, Goochland will be seeking its own conditional approval for a diverging diamond design from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), while Henrico is working to line up the funding it needs for its diverging diamond interchange, noted Austin Goyne, Goochland’s transportation/environmental project manager.
“We kind of did it opposite of each other,” Goyne said Monday. “They got federal approval first and are now seeking money; we got the money and are now seeking that last little bit of federal approval.”
Goochland announced Monday that its $76 million project is fully funded through the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale funding program, following adoption last week of VDOT’s Six Year Improvement Plan that puts just over $42 million toward the project. The remaining funding was previously secured through regional funds from the Central Virginia Transportation Authority.
The announcement came two weeks after Henrico held a press conference announcing the FHWA conditionally approved the diverging diamond design for Gayton and other plans to improve interstate safety and traffic flow in and around Short Pump. In addition to the Gayton interchange, the plans include modifications to the I-64 interchange at West Broad Street, just west of Innsbrook.
The diverging diamond interchange planned for Interstate 64 at North Gayton Road. (Henrico County images)
In remarks during the press conference, Three Chopt District Supervisor Tommy Branin called the approval “a major accomplishment in two respects.”
“It’s the fastest approval we’ve ever received from the FHWA. It also is the largest transportation and safety project this county has ever done in history,” he said.
Next steps include design and environmental studies, which Henrico officials have said are funded. Financing for construction would come later, involving a mix of county, state and federal funds.
The Gayton interchange is projected to cost $150 million, and the 64-Broad improvements are projected at $170 million, though overlap from combining both projects is expected to bring the total to $250 million.
Improvements to the 64-Broad Street interchange would include eliminating the southeast quadrant onramp.
Like Henrico, Goochland is aiming for its interchange to be a diverging diamond design, in which travel lanes temporarily cross sides in a manner meant to facilitate traffic flow. VDOT prefers the design, which involves fewer signals and facilitates pedestrian and bicycle crossings. Diverging diamonds have been installed at Zion Crossroads and the Route 250 interchange near Charlottesville.
Goochland has identified the Ashland Road interchange as its top county transportation priority. The project would widen Ashland Road to four lanes, add a second bridge over the interstate to accommodate the diverging diamond design, and is expected to open up economic development opportunities and improve traffic flow for 200 existing businesses in and around Rockville.
Austin Goyne
“We are looking forward to getting this interchange fixed permanently moving forward,” said Goyne. “It’s really going to open up upwards of 1,000 or so acres of prime economic development lands that are within the Goochland County corridor right there. We are really hoping that springboards a lot of good growth in that area.”
The interchange would also serve the 44-acre Project Rocky site, where California-based Panattoni Development Co. is planning a massive e-commerce fulfillment or distribution center. The facility, to be built off a 650,000-square-foot footprint, would be comparable to the 2.6-million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center near Richmond Raceway.
The user for the Project Rocky facility has yet to be announced. A site plan for the project is under county review.
Goyne said the interchange would benefit the project but is not tied to it.
“They’re certainly not tied together at the hip,” he said. “They certainly do benefit each other. But they’re not conditional upon one another.”
Preliminary engineering work for the project is expected to last through 2025, with right-of-way acquisition scheduled in 2027 and construction in 2029-2030, according to Goochland’s website.
Both the Ashland Road and Gayton Road interchanges are about equidistant from the I-64/Route 288 interchange, where the two counties are also planning and collaborating on additional transportation improvements.
Desired improvements detailed in Henrico’s plans include additional lanes and expanded ramps on I-295 and Route 288.
Those improvements, detailed in Henrico’s conditionally approved plans, include additional lanes and ramp expansions for 288 near its Broad Street interchange in Goochland County, where backups also are frequent.
Goyne said Goochland is aiming to line up funding for those improvements and is working collaboratively with its neighbor to achieve a regional impact.
“There are some improvements listed in the Gayton document that are on Route 288 that are within Goochland County. We are hoping to submit funding applications for three of the projects in that Gayton document this fall,” Goyne said.
“We’re working with Henrico County to prioritize those projects, because they not only benefit Henrico County but they definitely benefit Goochland County as well.”
Hundreds of millions will be spent to ‘open up 1,000 acres’ to development in rural Goochland and expand suburban sprawl in Henrico. Many of us will live to see suburban sprawl fully connect Richmond and Charlottesville. As Virginians, is this really the path we want to take? Or do we want to imagine different and more sustainable forms of land use and transportation?
Stopping the western suburban sprawl to Charlottesville is up to the counties along the way. I believe Goochland tried stopping the sprawl for a decade, but they eventually succumbed to the developers money….. Serious question here, what defines sustainable land use in Fluvanna?
It should not be “up to the counties” because all of us pay for suburban sprawl as these two minor but exorbitantly costly projects demonstrate. Our current development pattern isn’t sustainable as NOVA, Atlanta, LA, Houston, and any other growing metro area demonstrates. We need to utilize dense development and transit that doesn’t require a personal vehicle.
I guess Richmond must be frozen in amber starting from an arbitrary date!!!
Who put you in charge?
Just how is it that Houston Atlanta and NOVA are demonstrating that those places are “unsustainable”? I would term it “Wildly Successful”
LA was too, before the far left took over and made the place both unwalkable AND undrivable.
If you have taken a few of the exits on in bwtn Charlottesville and Short pump, one can see that in many places it is not merely that development is creeping eastward and westward, but that nodes are mushrooming up in the center. The reason for this is that Central Virginia is now the only part of Virginia that is growing — more people in the greater DC area are skipping Richmond and moving to Railegh/D/CH/C than moving to central VA, but we are still getting the lions share of new residents when before it was of course NOVA and… Read more »
Is this Greta?
Okay, let’s pretend! I say that we Stop Building Out. And since so many in Richmond don’t want us to build UP, I suggest we start building…. down. Yes, down, and I don’t mean parking garages — I mean US!! We can delve down and build underground cites, heated and cooled with geothermal, lit with little japanese mirror tubes that bring in natural light — think of how far we can dig! For transport, we can all take big elevators with chairs in them like a gondola! Or, while we are dreaming, how about that crazy Mile Long Wall City… Read more »
With that tremendous amount of money being spent I hope they can take a small portion and buy some of the farmland adjacent to the Rockville exit and put in a full size “park and ride”. That lot is routinely full and literally the smallest I have ever been in. If you have a full size pickup it’s almost impossible to pull into some of the spots when the lot is full and you have other full size vehicles beside you and across from you.
No to park and rides, that encourages more sprawl.
YES to more park and rides — sprawl hardly needs encouragement — what needs encouragement is people riding in on public transport, since this is a rather “alternative” mindset still. When my wife commuted from Falls Church to duPont Circle we really tried to have her take the subway in — but BOTH FC stations were a drive, and not only was parking expensive, it was often not available unless you paid a subscription to make sure a space was reserved for you. Then you had to be pressed into a cattle car environment (Summer no fun) and then have… Read more »
I wonder how many years it will take to complete this project. In Ladysmith ( Caroline County) an 0.85 mile widening of Ladysmith Road from I-95 to Route 1 started on February 16,2022, and the VDOT website expects completion to be in May 2024. That project doesn’t include any changes to the access to I-95!
This is such a bad idea, it will be upon us in record time. The ultra quick fed approval tells you about all you need to know.
Can you elaborate?
The collapse and subsequent repair of I 95 in Philly demonstrates roads CAN be built faster. smdh
the repair in Philly is temporary, it’s going to take a while to actually repair the damage for long-term use.
temporary OPEN FOR USE in less than 2 weeks.
Yes, and it will add a lot of extra cost as those temporary lanes have to be maintained, likely past their intended life, then demolished, cleared, and replaced with the permanent structures. I’m not sure what value added you thought your comment had.
What value is your comment regarding the Philly repair being temporary? My comment was factual – that I 95 reopened for traffic in less than 2 weeks. Whether traffic is diverted to the right lanes or left lanes for the next few years is irrelevant. I 95 is OPEN for traffic in less than 2 weeks, so why can’t other roads be built more quickly?
His comment has value because it points out that construction of a temporary road is very different than the construction of a permanent road. If every road was a temporary road then yes, more roads could be built faster, but they are not so they can’t be if built correctly. Additionally, that section originally had an exit road under it. The temporary section does not and therefore that whole section of the City will not be served for a very long time.
I believe EVERY comment has value – I was being snarky in response to Justin’s response to me. Bruce’s original comment was about how long the Ladysmith construction was taking – & I said that roads CAN be built faster. Sheesh – you guys find ANY reason to belittle my discourse.
Only when they aren’t factual 🙂 Permanent roads that extend more than a very short distance CANNOT be built that fast.
So belittling is OK because they are not factual OPINIONS? got it.
When you present opinions as fact such as “Roads CAN be built faster.” instead of “I think roads CAN be built faster” then people may correct you, which you then take as belittling of your opinions instead of corrections to an items incorrectly presented as facts. I am sorry you feel belittled but a correction is to make sure disinformation is not spread. It is not something personal.
disinformation – lol!
Also, disagreeing with your opinions is not belittling you. It is disagreeing with you. You disagree with people’s opinions all the time and often in a snarky fashion, but I do not see anyone else on here consistently complaining about being belittled by you. Please stop taking things so personally.
Yeah — I agree you on this in part, sorry Victoria, open debate is a touchy realm, even if people try to remain angelic and are all members of the same groups with no diversity, which is why certain cultures avoid debate completely for honor reasons and never bring up disagreements or even questions for fear that the speaker, maybe even God Forbid the Boss, will be offended. But I also think it is fair that she take issue with the word “disinformation” — whether you know it or not, the word more than implies that someone is deliberately trying… Read more »
When are you talking about? I had to make a bunch of trips to NYS and wanted to avoid the Delaware bridge in 2017-18 (you can cross the river at New Hope for free) and 95 near Philly THEN was a scary place — but they were rebuilding then and there too…. is this when you are talking about?
Oh, wait — I you are talking about that truck that did that damage, right?
This is unrelated to this story, but does relate to interchanges: does anyone know why I-295 doesn’t cut on through the trees to meet up with John Rolfe Parkway by the Target? As it is now, you have to get on 64 and drive all the way around Broad to get to the Target, when you could just go through where the trees are now. I know many moons ago John Rolfe Parkway was going to serve as the beltway around the area. I assume the fact that it ultimately was not the beltway has something to do with why… Read more »
I-295 was planned to cross 64 and connect to 288, completing the beltway. However, development of the west end occurred faster than the state road (288) could be funded, designed, and built. Therefore the 288 interchange was relocated several miles to the west. There used to be a parallel bridge across 64 which would have carried the traffic from the broad street side which was demolished when the flyover from 64 east was built.
I would note that Henrico preserved the corridor for 295 and 288 to meet. It eventually became John Rolfe Parkway when Chesterfield did not preserve their right of way and 288 had to move further west.
I suspect the reason it can’t be done now is traffic would immediately back up all the way to the exits to continue on to I64. Can you imagine trying to turn out of Target onto John Rolfe at 5:30 pm if you had people coming straight down 295 onto John Rolfe? It was a good plan 30 years ago but unfortunately I think that ship has sailed at this point.
I’ve been telling my wife for several years now that if they’d just let 295 continue on & put a traffic light in at the intersection that takes you behind those businesses that it would alleviate traffic on 64 & the 64 exit onto Broad Street! There’s a few parkways in Northern VA that is similar to where you’re traveling at interstate speeds but as you approach more residential or commercial areas the speed limit reduces in increments. The same could be done there. Reduce speed from 70 to 55, then to 45 & then 35 as you’d get to… Read more »
Interstates are prohibited by law to end at traffic lights. It defeats the purpose. The proposed speed reduction above would not have been effective.That would have been the deadliest intersection in the Commonwealth.
The West Creek folks solved the Rte 288 location problem in one fell swoop by offering their property as the ROW. Granted, the I-295 to I-64 switchover is awkward but you get there without interfering with the Short Pump traffic.
Motorola was to come to West Creek (288 & Patterson) back in the 80’s/90’s (?) and part of the deal for them to come here was road access. That is why the STATE built 288. (and did not get the Feds to complete the circle of 295.) Motorola demanded the highway access – 288 was built – and then Motorola backed out. This is all rumor, but it makes sense.
The decision to move 288 was already made before the Motorola deal. It was done because Chesterfield had allowed development to occur on the original right of way. It also did not hurt that the owner’s of West Creek offered the land for 288 because it would give them better access to their park.
I am surprised there are so many negative comments to this story. These exchanges are sorely needed to accomodate existing traffic. Short Pump is a nightmare, in large part because there are a lot of people living, working and shopping there. If you want to criticize them for poor planning, I can agree. If you want to advocate for denser development in that area, I can get on board (sort of). But I don’t get the head-in-the-sand attitude toward westward suburban development. I suppose the same folks are opposed to the Louisiana Purchase? Not everyone wants to live in a… Read more »
AGREE.
Comments to these proposed projects are negative because $250 Million to improve 3 interstate interchanges will not solve Short Pump’s traffic woes. We need a better long term plan and building more/wider roads isn’t sustainable. I agree not everyone wants to live in a high rise, but it’s proven again and again people want walkable communities and yet they are never built. West Broad Village is a great example and yet nothing else like it has yet to be built in Short Pump.
Greengate has.
People DO want walkable communities. But they want them in Levittown, and they don’t particularly want you to be able to walk TO their neighborhood. Short Pump already has walkable communities, but they are distinct from each other. I read this kind of repeating of circa 2012 “The New Person wants to live in the cities where they can walk to everything.” Maybe in Switzerland they do, but the reality is that EVEN WHEN there was a huge movement into the cities by young people, far more people were moving into the Suburbs. This was as true for Richmond as… Read more »
Even in Petersburg, there are many Latin americans who have discovered the forgotten old suburbs of West Petersburg and they don’t see them the way that Native Richmonders see them — they see them as a paradise that people have abandoned and left for them to apply a bit of TLC — it’s something to see, and I suggest you ask them if they want to live in a dense neighborhood downtown that maybe has a little dogpark for their dog to pee and a place to get overpriced tacos at. These neighborhoods are all walkable, by the way —… Read more »
I am NOT AT ALL surprised there are negative comments — in fact, I clicked on what looked like a very dull topic to enjoy the negative comments by the ideologues and busybodies!
I love your comment BTW. As far as planning goes, the scuttlebutt generally in that area is “NO ONE KNEW how successful that area was going to be.” No one planned for everything there to turn to gold, and hence all the people flocking to build and move there. I believe the public schools in that general area are the best in Greater Richmond, for instance. I bought a minivan from an Asian guy from NYC (originally from Laos or somewhere like that) who lives near the Whole Foods who has a side hustle selling used cars — I was… Read more »
The problem is two-fold: first is the design is confusing and very costly, when a cloverleaf is the best design. Also, there is no infrastructure to accept the traffic growth that has already made the Centerville Village (if you can call it that, because it has no ‘Village charm’) and Ashland Road north of I 64 completely undesirable for residents. When you promote growth taxes always go up. The people who make these decisions have not listened to the people, and most likely don’t live in the area.
While there is room for a clover leaf at the Goochland exit, there is not room for one at the Henrico interchange.
If you look a little closer, this is really an expansion of the Short Pump bedroom community. Are there any plans for building new schools, post office, or library? Or are you just hoping this will be a 55 and alder attraction? Will Centerville have the “Village concept” charm, because right now it looks no different from anywhere else.
Short Pump’s demographic is barely replacing itself – it will not need new schools, p.o.’s, and library’s.
“Short Pump’s demographic is barely replacing itself” is not a factual statement as presented. I don’t know about post office and libraries, but there are already new and expanded schools planned for that area of the County.
Check out the demographic of Short Pump, and then check out the demographic of who is having enough kids to replace themselves – it is not the people who live in Short Pump.
Are you looking at the Short Pump CDP boundaries as defined by the Census? If so, that is a very narrow definition of what Short Pump is and pretty much only contains the commercial areas. If so, you are correct that the people living there most likely do not have that many kids. However, if you look at the immediately surrounding area I think you will find something much different.
Huh? Do you mean population? Sure, it doesn’t need more schools yet, and almost nowhere needs a new library these days. Many are now self-licking ice cream cones. If you mean that, actually most of Virginia geographically is worse than Japan as far as “natural increase” and even with immigration has been losing population. Meanwhile, while Richmond remains rather flat (yet still wants to replace schools that it seems incompetent to maintain (my elementary school was built in the 1920s and no one wants to replace it)) the counties around RIchmond are both the fastest growing places in all of… Read more »