ROANOKE, Va. – The Virginia Department of Transportation is holding a public hearing Tuesday night to discuss a project aimed at improving traffic flow and safety on part of Orange Avenue (Route 460).
VDOT is looking to make changes to a two-mile stretch of Orange Avenue that many of you might drive on. The project will target the area just east of Gainsboro Road Northwest, near the Berglund Center, and run to just east of 24th Street Northeast, close to Dairy Queen.
The hearing will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday in Berglund Hall at the Berglund Center, 710 Williamson Road NE in Roanoke. It will be an open-house format, so community members can attend, learn more and ask questions.
Some of the proposed changes include:
- Adding turn lanes at several intersections
- Installing sidewalks, curb ramps, pedestrian signals and crosswalks
- Improving off-ramps from southbound I-581 onto Orange Avenue and adding a signal to the off-ramp onto westbound Orange Avenue
- Enhancing northbound I-581 ramps onto and from westbound Orange Avenue
- Changing the 11th Street NE intersection so drivers who currently turn left or go straight across Orange Avenue will instead turn right and use an alternate side street or make a U-turn at the next crossover or signal
- Closing three median crossovers between 13th Street NE and 20th Street NE
- Modifying intersections at Rhodes Avenue, Walton Street and 20th Street NE so drivers can only make right turns onto Orange Avenue
- Redirecting left turns from westbound Orange Avenue onto Rhodes Avenue to alternate side streets or U-turns
“Folks who drive it out there, particularly in the morning commute and the evening commute, see the congestion that occurs,” said VDOT spokesperson Jason Bond. “So this is a project that’s intended to make some improvements, particularly at the intersections along Orange Avenue, to make traffic flow better.
The project isn’t expected to start until 2028. When it does, drivers can expect narrowed ramps and temporary nighttime closures.
According to VDOT, about 41,500 vehicles travel this section of Orange Avenue every day. The project is estimated to cost more than $62 million.