Every two years, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) accepts Smart Scale applications from localities and regional entities requesting funds for transportation projects across the Commonwealth. In August, the West Piedmont Planning District Commission (WPPDC) and Danville Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) submitted two applications which were recommended for funding by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB). These include the Berry Hill Connector Road Extension in Pittsylvania County, and the Improvement to the US 58 Business and Dogwood Drive Intersection in Henry County. Smart Scale is a data-driven transportation funding program which scores applications based on five factors including projects’ impacts on economic development, safety, accessibility, congestion mitigation, and environment.

The Berry Hill Connector Road Extension was submitted by the Danville MPO and serves as an extension of the original Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill Connector Road segment, which was also funded as part of an MPO-submitted Smart Scale application two years ago. Unlike the original segment of the connector road which will be constructed from Berry Hill Road approximately two miles east to the Oak Ridge Farms interchange at the Danville Expressway, the Extension will follow the existing Berry Hill Road alignment. Specifically, the project will involve widening Berry Hill Road, which is currently configured as two travel lanes with virtually no paved shoulders, to four lanes with 8’ paved shoulders (12’ total width). Th e improvements will extend approximately 2.3 miles, from the intersection of the original connector road (about two miles south of Berry Hill Road’s intersection with U.S. 58 Business) south to Oak Hill Road. The estimated project cost is approximately $38.7 million. Th e Connector Road Extension is an important upgrade to the regional road network required to efficiently and safely serve the Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill which could accommodate up to an estimated 11,500 jobs and will serve a significant amount of inter-regional and interstate freight and non-freight traffic generated by the industrial park, which Berry Hill Road, in its current configuration, is ill-suited to accommodate. Both connector road phases, taken together, will effectively channel traffic from the industrial park to the Danville Expressway, minimizing use of local roads, while expediting movement of traffic.

In a related development, a transportation improvement project at the intersection of U.S. 58 Business and Berry Hill Road—a past Danville MPO Smart Scale application which was funded—was recently completed. The project entailed turn lane improvements, in concert with traffic signal optimization, to more efficiently accommodate traffic associated with early phase development of the Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill. 

The WPPDC also applied on behalf of Henry County for an Improvement to the U.S. 58 Business and Dogwood Drive Intersection, east of Martinsville. The project will result in the construction of a right turn lane at the Dogwood Drive approach to U.S. 58 Business to address traffic backups generated by a nearby high school. In addition, the project will involve the construction of a right turn lane along U.S. 58 West at the intersection, as well as access management at an existing gas station on the northeast side of the intersection to improve safety and functionality in the vicinity of that intersection. The cost estimate for this project is $2.5 million. Other Smart Scale projects in the region which have been recommended for funding include:

• Intersection improvements at U.S. Route 220 and Bonbrook Mill Road in Franklin County to include a reconfiguration of the intersection as a Continuous Green-T with an acceleration lane.
• Intersection improvements at U.S. Route 220 and Naff Road in Franklin County to include the construction of a right turn lane on U.S. 220 South, as well as the extension of an existing left turn lane on U.S. 220 North. This project was submitted by the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission (RVARC), on behalf of Franklin County.
• Improvements to the intersection of Route 8 (Salem Highway) and Ashby Drive in Patrick County to improve safety.
• Improvements to U.S. 29 and Tightsqueeze Road in Pittsylvania County, to include reconfiguration of the intersection to a Restricted Crossing U-Turn (R-CUT).
• The construction of a signalized crosswalk along Market Street at Moss Street in the City of Martinsville to improve pedestrian safety.

For more information on Smart Scale, please visit smartscale.org.