Two projects totaling nearly $16 million and designed to improve traffic flow near The Falls commercial center are included in the state’s six-year transportation funding.
Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board approved about $10 million last week to widen a .78-mile segment of Lee Highway in front of the center near Interstate 81’s Exit 5 and $5.8 million to expand on- and off-ramps at Exit 5. However, actual construction is still well into the future. The projects were part of the overall $14.4 billion plan.
The city’s priority project is to widen a 4,200-foot section of Lee Highway from east of Blevins Boulevard — at the existing entrance to The Falls — eastward to the intersection with Alexis Drive near Pal’s Sudden Service, City Engineer Wallace McCulloch said Tuesday.
“Phase two goes from where we left off and goes to Alexis. It includes two signals, but K.D. Moore is doing a development [on the opposite side of the highway] so if his traffic study justifies it, he would pay for that [additional] signal,” McCulloch said. “It will be four lanes with a 16-foot median.”
