Infrastructure improvements along Hanover’s popular Atlee Station Road and Pole Green Road corridors are projected to cost the county around $50 million in state and local funds, according to the county’s department of public works.
County officials met with residents during a public hearing to discuss the ongoing development of the project on Atlee Station, as well as the design and overall cost of the project.
Atlee Station Road is set to receive widening, sidewalk and shared use path enhancements. Joe Vidunas, Hanover’s transportation engineer, told VPM News these improvements have long been a part of the county’s overall plan.
“I think it really stems from our transportation strategy overall, which has been to focus improvements first at intersections, and then we look at the more expensive, longer term widening projects,” Vidunas said.
The proposed widening of Atlee Station will occur in phases over the next several years. On Wednesday, Vidunas and representatives from the Timmons Group engineering firm spoke with residents at Chickahominy Middle School. It was an opportunity for the public to review the proposed changes.
“One of the things that is really, really important to us is to make sure that the public– the residents in particular that are being impacted — have an opportunity to really share their input into what we're trying to achieve here,” Vidunas said.
Atlee Station Road is currently in its second phase of development and has undergone a number of improvements that align with the county’s recently adopted comprehensive plan, whose goals are especially important in a neighborhood that includes three schools, subdivisions on both sides and bike paths.
“I could list off a number of improvements that we've done in our corridors, Pole Green and Route 360 for example, where we've made incremental improvements,” Vidunas said.
Each of these projects have been on the county’s schedule since Atlee Station Road was extended in 2018, and they progressed in late 2021. The cost to complete them has increased primarily due to inflation. It could be years before any of the proposed improvements break ground; they are set to be completed before 2030.
“These projects do take a long time, that's just a fact,” Vidunas said. “I've been a traffic engineer for 21 years. I know that we’ll eventually complete these projects as well.”
Moving forward, Vidunas said the county will work with its partners at the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Central Virginia Transportation Authority to fully fund each project.
Residents are encouraged to comment on the county’s road plan by submitting them directly to the Hanover Department of Public Works at P.O. Box 470, Hanover, Virginia 23069 — or contacting Vidunas via email.
