Chesterfield County is the closest it’s ever been to starting a long-planned extension of the Powhite Parkway, a county official said Wednesday at the annual “State of the County” address.
The extension — which local planners refer to internally as “the dotted line” — has been on planning maps for decades.
“It’s been a topic of conversation as long as I can remember,” said Jesse Smith, Chesterfield’s deputy county administrator for community development.
“That dotted line has been around for a generation,” County Administrator Joe Casey told VPM News at the Thomas R. Fulghum Conference Center in Midlothian.
The $300 million project is planned in two phases, which will extend the parkway from its current western terminus near State Route 288 to Woolridge Road, then connect it to Hull Street Road near Beaver Bridge Road.
According to the county, the plan would cut traffic on Hull Street Road by about 10%.
The second phase requires permission from state and federal authorities, but Casey said officials are working out the details.
Casey added that the extension’s projected completion in 2026 will also coincide with the end of the 75-cent toll charged to fund construction of the existing parkway's Chesterfield stretch.
“[The Virginia Department of Transportation] and the county made a promise many years ago that once the bonds are paid, the tolls will go down,” he said.
Casey said the new extension should be funded without having to rely on toll revenue.
Affordable housing
This past year, the county broke ground on 10 affordable homes at Ettrick Landing in conjunction with the nonprofit Maggie Walker Community Land Trust. Those homes were built at a cost of around $400,000 a unit and sold to citizens for under $200,000, with the difference subsidized by grants.
But county officials say more needs to be done. Smith defined affordable housing as being affordable for people who make less than 60% of the area median household income, which is over $95,000 a year in Chesterfield, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
With the exception of Ettrick Landing, Smith said, “We really don’t have any housing stock that these people can ever purchase.”
Chesterfield concluded the presentation by unveiling its new mascot, Cole the raccoon, who was unveiled over the summer. Dressed in a mining uniform, Cole posed for pictures and threw T-shirts to attendees.
