LYNCHBURG, Va. – Traffic will soon get better for people traveling through a major intersection in Lynchburg.
City leaders were unsuccessful last year when asking the commonwealth to fund road changes for the Route 501/ 221 thoroughfare.
After going back to the drawing board, city leaders recently started an environmental study in the area, which, they say, gave them a leg up in the process.
With the help of the Virginia Department of Transportation, the organizations are looking to get $16.7 million from a state grant called Smart Scale.
To lessen congestion city leaders want to create "two one-way pairs," that's an additional road that will connect drivers to 501.
“It will be money well spent. A lot of people will be in favor of it,” one driver Theresa Toms said.
“We’ve started on design and we anticipate design being done, maybe being done, next winter of 2020,” Gaynelle Hart, director of public works, said.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board will vote whether to fund the project in June.
City leaders say it will still be a couple years out before the road changes can start.