Bridge to be built over Lakeside Drive in Lynchburg

City hopes to hire contractor, consultant by January

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Years down the road, people in Lynchburg will be driving on a bridge over Lakeside Drive.

The city is in the beginning stages of creating a four-lane bridge and a roundabout near the intersection of Old Forest Road and Lakeside Drive.

This comes after a rainstorm damaged the College Lake dam last year. 

Engineers have started testing the soil. 

The Water Resources Department recently received $5 million from Virginia lawmakers to fix the dam and lake bed. 

Now the public works director says $22 million from the city's capital improvement budget will be used to build the bridge and roundabout. 

"No, it will not impact any homes. We acquired any properties that we need for this project already. So the homes, people's existing dwellings will not be impacted," Gaynelle Hart said.

City officials hope to hire a contractor and consultant by January.