Henrico Awards Construction Contract For Final Stretch Of John Rolfe Parkway

The Henrico County Board of Supervisors have approved the last stretch of John Rolfe Parkway, which will stretch from West Broad Street to Lauderdale Drivewhen completed in its entirety and is expected to alleviate Short Pump’s congested roads, at least somewhat, according to county officials. A nearly $4.5 million agreement was made with Richmond-based F.G. […]

March 17, 2010; 11:39 PM • by Trevor Dickerson

The Henrico County Board of Supervisors have approved the last stretch of John Rolfe Parkway, which will stretch from West Broad Street to Lauderdale Drivewhen completed in its entirety and is expected to alleviate Short Pump’s congested roads, at least somewhat, according to county officials.

A nearly $4.5 million agreement was made with Richmond-based F.G. Pruitt, Inc. to complete the work.

This particular road segment, which will stretch from Pump Road near its intersection with Church Road and and end at Ridgefield Parkway, is approximately 1.25 miles in length.

The portion of the Parkway from Three Chopt to Church Road is still under construction and should be open to traffic by the summer. Henrico County Traffic Engineer Michael A. Jennings estimates that the portion of roadway from Church Road to West Broad Street cost approximately $11.2 to complete.

A portion of the road from Lauderdale Drive to Ridgefield Parkway has been open for several years, but construction of the portion from Ridgefield to Church was delayed several times, hurting tenants in the John Rolfe Commons shopping center, such as Max & Erma’s, who closed their doors late last year. Without the new road in place, the shopping center is largely inaccessible from the Short Pump area by means of a direct route.

The right-of-way for this road was originally intended to serve as the Route 288 corridor. The roadway lines up with the end of Interstate 295 and would have been connected between the Short Pump Wal-Mart and Target stores. However, as Jennings explained in a 2008 interview with Downtown Short Pump, plans changed through the years and Route 288 was constructed just to the west in Goochland County. “Henrico County did reserve the right-of-way for this corridor, but neighboring jurisdictions made other choices,” Jennings said. “Henrico County continued with John Rolfe Parkway because it is an important part of our traffic plan serving transportation needs of the western part of the county. The existing location of 288 was chosen and approved by [the Virginia Department of Transportation].”

March 17, 2010 11:39 PM 0