Roanoke County is working together with VDOT on a study that would look at possible safety improvements to the Route 419/Electric Road corridor between Starkey Road and Springwood Park Drive.
Megan Cronise, Roanoke County Assistant Director of Planning, says that the primary goal of the study is to get feedback from the people on potential improvements to the corridor to reduce traffic accidents and increase walkability.
“The survey that is currently available until midnight, November 24th - which is a Monday - has a variety of improvements that are potentially proposed as things we can do to Route 419 that would improve safety and reduce crashes,” Cronise said.
Proposed improvements aim to let traffic flow smoothly while keeping pedestrians safe with new additions to the roads.
“We’re also proposing sidewalks and bicycle lanes for stretches of Route 419 because we’ve been hearing that for many, many years as part of our planning efforts,” Cronise said.
Bike lanes would be a benefit to people who commute without cars, while sidewalks could keep people off the street and safe from accidents.
“There {are} a lot of pedestrians walking on the road and things like that,” Jaden Childress said. “There is so much traffic that people who are walking on the road have a huge safety risk.”
The county is hoping that a more walkable Roanoke would allow people to get around easier.
“Roanoke is a very conglomerate place, so I feel as if, with the expansion of sidewalks and bike lanes over here, it would make it more active and help people come out and enjoy the community,” Childress said.
The county is hoping to incorporate the feedback into the improvements they want to add when they ask VDOT for grant funding next year.
Cronise says that over 180 people have completed the survey. To do the surgery, you can find it here.