Danville parkway options unveiled

Danville Register & Bee
Published: June 5, 2008

A new corridor snaking from Piney Forest Road to Mount Cross Road would ease traffic on Piney Forest and provide another access to retail centers on Piedmont Drive, according to a consultant conducting a study on the idea.

The project, estimated at $37.4 million, would yield the most benefits for the least cost when compared with three alternatives, Bill Cashman, office manager at URS Corp. in Richmond, said Wednesday. The URS-preferred alternative would also provide the highest overall traffic service, he said.

URS Corp. in Richmond, through a contract with the Danville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, held a public meeting Wednesday night at O.T. Bonner Middle School to get input on the proposal and alternatives for an Iris Lane Parkway corridor from the Danville Expressway in Pittsylvania County to the Parker Road area or Mount Cross Road.

If the project is approved, it would not go forward for at least six years and the exact layout of the proposed parkway is unknown, Cashman said. The replacement of the Robertson Street Bridge in Danville takes precedence over Iris Lane, he said.

“Until that gets funded, this one won’t get funded,” Cashman said.

One Parker Road West resident opposes the Iris Lane Parkway idea because it would increase traffic near her home and reduce property values.

“It’s going to generate more traffic on a residential street,” said Bonnie Parker, who bought a house in the area in 2002.

The single mother of two said she saved what little money she could to buy her home in a quiet cul-de-sac.

“I’m not going to be able to do that again,” Parker said. “They’re going to force me to live in the city.”

Parker has made improvements on her home and increased its value, but if the corridor is built as URS recommends, the added traffic would drive her property’s worth back down, she said.

URS figures indicate 145 residential and 10 commercial parcels could be impacted by the roughly five-mile parkway under the preferred alternative. It would stretch from Piney Forest, head southwest to cross Franklin Turnpike and continue south to Mount Cross Road at Averett University’s North Campus.

“We cannot speculate on how many (properties) would be hit or taken,” Cashman said.

If the project gets funding, public input would be taken on the parkway’s alignment and design.

Susan Shelingoski, URS environmental planner, said the parkway would most likely nick small pieces of larger tracts with little effect on homes. In cases with impacted properties, the Virginia Department of Transportation would contact owners to purchase the home or piece of land, Cashman said.

If the parties can’t reach an agreement, a VDOT board would decide compensation, he said.

Other Iris Lane Parkway alternatives include a route from Piney Forest to Parker Road at a cost of $33.7 million to $44 million; a corridor from Danville Expressway to Mount Cross Road costing from $89 million to $95.6 million; and a parkway from Danville Expressway to Parker Road at a price ranging from $85.4 million to $92 million.

The routes from the other alternatives going from the Danville Expressway to Piney Forest Road lacked enough projected traffic volume to support new interchanges., officials said. The other alternatives also meant more costly bridge construction and impacts to wetlands and streams.

Widening Piney Forest Road, which has numerous businesses that sit close to the roadway, is out of the question, officials said.

The project, proposed by the metropolitan planning organization, is designed to ease traffic and reduce accidents.

URS figures indicate Franklin Turnpike was the most crash-prone interchange among about a dozen on Piney Forest Road, with 31 crashes and 16 injuries in the three-year period. Old Piney Forest Road and Parker Road were the second- and third-most dangerous, respectively, followed by Nor Dan Drive and Audubon Drive, according to the statistics.

URS will present a draft report of the project to the local planning organization on June 23, with a final report complete later this summer, Cashman said. If approved, it would be placed alongside other long-term highway projects to compete for public funding.

Another hearing will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Danville Regional Airport on a proposed connector from Route 730, or Eagle Springs Road, to U.S. 29.