Community Developments - November Transportation Issue

November 2009

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTS

Greetings!

The Roanoke County Department of Community Development is hitting the road this November with a special issue dedicated to transportation.

Thanksgiving Day is the most heavily traveled day of the year with the number of long distance trips increasing by 54 percent when compared to the rest of the year. While most media attention is focused on crowded airports, only 5 to 6 percent of holiday trips are by air. Most travel - 91 percent - is done by personal vehicle.

Merriman Roundabout

The County of Roanoke is planning to construct a roundabout at the intersection of Merriman Road (Route 613) and Meadowlark Road. The proposed project involves the construction of a roundabout, the realignment of Merriman Road, and connections to Meadowlark Road, the new South County Library entrance, and Penn Forest Elementary School/Darrell Shell Park.

The Merriman Road roundabout project is funded through the Virginia Department of Transportation's Revenue Sharing Program and County contributions. Construction of the project will be administered by Roanoke County.

Roanoke County will hold a public hearing to discuss the proposed improvements on Monday, November 9, 2009, in the Penn Forest Elementary School Cafeteria. The hearing will begin at 7:00PM with a presentation reviewing the proposed improvements, estimated construction schedule and the temporary road closure. Detailed drawings will be on display and Roanoke County and VDOT staff will be available to answer questions during the public hearing.

Revenue Sharing Program

The Virginia Department of Transportation 's Revenue Sharing Program provides additional funding for a locality to construct, reconstruct or improve primary and secondary roads in the State's highway system. With this program, locality funds are matched by state funds with limits on the amount of state funds authorized per locality.

Applications for Revenue Sharing funds must be made by resolution of the governing body of the locality requesting the funds; in the case of Roanoke County, the Board of Supervisors must request funding. Project funding is allocated by resolution of the Commonwealth Transportation Board and construction may be accomplished by VDOT or by the locality under an agreement with VDOT.

In Fiscal Year 2010, VDOT's Revenue Sharing Program will provide $39.5 million in matching funds for 122 projects statewide. Roanoke County requested and received $500,000 in state match funding for 5 Revenue Sharing projects in FY2010. The projects include the Merriman Roundabout (mentioned above), Washington Avenue, Farmington Drive, Halevan Road and Forester Road. County monetary contributions will total $500,500.

Park and Ride

Beginning on Monday, November 2, 2009, VDOT will improve the unpaved portion of the Park and Ride lot at Interstate 81's exit 140 (Salem). The 13,000 square foot expansion will convert the grassy area on the northern end of the commuter lot into a hard-surface parking area, creating approximately 30 new parking spaces.
Exit140ParkandRideGrassyArea

Improvements will also be made to the unpaved portion of the commuter lot including grading, stabilizing the soil, updating the drainage ditches, placing stone, applying surface treatment and painting lines.

During construction, 7 of the 59 existing parking spaces in the paved portion of the lot will be unavailable for several days between Monday, November 2 and Friday, November 6, so that the work can be performed. In addition, drivers will be
unable to park on the grassy area while it is being upgraded.
VDOT plans to complete the improvements by November 6; however, weather may require adjustments to the work schedule.

Additionally, increased enforcement of no parking areas at the facility will begin November 1, 2009. It is important that commuters do not park in the designated no parking areas as the longer Smart Way buses may have difficulty turning the corners in the parking lot.

Plantation Road Improvement Project

Community development staff have been working on plans to improve Plantation Road from Interstate 81 to Williamson Road, a distance of nine-tenths of one mile.
PlantationRoad

Proposed streetscape and multimodal improvements include sidewalks, striped bicycle lanes and two shared use trails extending along Walrond and Enon Drives to Walrond Park and along Friendship Lane to the proposed Hollins University segment of the Tinker Creek Greenway. Additional improvements include pedestrian refuge islands with crosswalks, pedestrian signals at the existing Gander Way/Friendship Lane and Williamson Road signalized intersections, street trees, pedestrian-scaled lighting, a Hollins community identification sign, improved landscaping at Interstate 81 and at Williamson Road, landscaped medians, drainage improvements, retaining walls where needed and possible right-of-way acquisition.

Staff will take the proposed project to the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors for approval and support at the November 17, 2009 Public Hearing before applying for funding through the Federal Transportation Enhancement Program. This program provides funding for improvements to non-motorized transportation that enhance the public's traveling experience, revitalize communities and improve quality of life.

Route 11/460 Widening

The Virginia Department of Transportation is in the beginning stages of widening a 2.1-mile section of Route 11/460 in Roanoke County. The improvements start just west of City of Salem line and extend to Route 830 (Technology Drive).

Currently, crews are in the process of relocating utilities along the 2.1 mile stretch.

When completed, the road will be widened from three lanes to four lanes with a raised median. Widening this stretch of 11/460 should eliminate a bottleneck created by the road narrowing between four lane sections.

I-81 Corridor Coalition Conference

On October 12 and 13, 2009, Roanoke County co-hosted the I-81 Corridor Coalition Annual Conference and Meeting at Hotel Roanoke.

Comprised of federal, state and local government officials and private sector partners, the Coalition's mission centers on freight and passenger movement being safe, efficient, environmentally sensitive, seamless and intermodal.

The first day of the conference featured a highway panel that discussed transportation effects on air quality in the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, incident management along the I-95 Corridor and freight movement patterns across the United States and the impact on the I-81 Corridor. The day also included a presentation on the new prominence of Interstate 81 as well as rail panel that discussed intermodal freight movement along the corridor. The day concluded with an evening reception at the O. Winston Link Museum in downtown Roanoke.

The second day of the conference began with a welcome from Roanoke City Mayor Bowers followed by reports from the Coalition's three standing committees - environmental, local governance and freight movement and infrastructure. The conference ended on a high note with an update on Interstate 81 by Virginia Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer.

Planning Commission Update

The Planning Commission held a work session and public hearing on October 6, 2009, in the Roanoke County Administration Center. The afternoon work session included presentations by staff on recent conferences they attended on the Upper Roanoke River Watershed and Green Infrastructure and a brief discussion by the Commissioners on LEED incentives. During the Public Hearing, Commissioners reviewed 3 land use cases including:

A petition of Fralin SP, LLC to rezone 12.6 acres from C-2, General Commercial and R-3, Medium Density Multi-family Residential to R-4C, High Density Multi-family Residential located near the intersection of Peters Creek Road and Airport Road. The Commissioners recommended approval with conditions.
A petition of StellarOne Bank to rezone 4.6 acres from R-1, Low Density Residential and R-1S to C-1C, Office, for the purpose of constructing a bank with a drive-thru near the intersection of Cloverdale Road and Crumpacker Drive. The Commissioners recommended approval with conditions.
A petition of Fountain Head Land Company, LLC to amend the Planned Residential Master Plan related to an at-grade golf cart crossing of Pitzer Road at Ballyhack Golf Course. The Commissioners recommended approval with conditions.

The Planning Commission's October 20, 2009, work session was held on the fourth floor of the Roanoke County Administration Center. The work session included a presentation on proposed pedestrian improvements to Plantation Road and staff updates on some of the proposed zoning ordinance amendments including wind and renewable energy, parking structures and dam break inundation zones.

The Planning Commission will hold their next work session and public hearing on Monday, November 2, 2009, at the Roanoke County Administration Center. The public hearing has one item on the agenda: