Roanokers who live near Valley View Mall had a chance to review VDOT plans concerning the I-581/Valley View Boulevard interchange recently. The Department of Transportation will add a northbound on-ramp from Valley View Boulevard, to go along with the southbound ramp completed (from near the Best Buy parking lot) in 1999. The partially built northbound ramp was not completed due to costs. VDOT engineers met with the public at a community information session held at William Fleming High School.
VDOT is scheduled to complete the project, which will be known as a “diverging diamond interchange,” in 2016. It will also feature a stoplight and a traffic pattern that will force drivers to criss-cross to the wrong side of the road in order to access the on-ramps – which will be to the left, instead of to the right (think driving in England).
Price tag? 57.3 million dollars, including right-of way acquisitions and engineering. Completion of the interchange also opens up the vacant property across the street from Valley View to development and Roanoke City could build off-ramps from the new interchange to access that property, known as Evan Springs. That way someone could just cross from the mall to the additional retail mentioned for that parcel. New access lanes along I-581 are part of the construction plan as well.
One other byproduct of the work at Valley View: the end of the Lick Run Greenway, which now follows the edge of the southbound ramp up to the Best Buy parking lot, will shift to the north. That’s because a pedestrian only (walkers, runners, bikers) bridge will be built over I-581, perhaps a quarter mile from the current location. It will lengthen the 3.5-mile Lick Run greenway to some extent as well.
Jim Wilborn, a mountain biker and avid cyclist, liked the pedestrian bridge. “Right now the way it is, it’s a little scary. I wanted to make sure when they make these big changes that they included a major change for [the greenway]. And they did, they separated the pedestrian bridge [from the vehicles.] It looks really good.”
The Roanoke resident thought the overall design concept was interesting: “I’ve never seen a diverging diamond interchange. I was told it saved them ten million dollars in the design, which sounds like a good idea to me.” The diverging diamond also uses less real estate than something like a more traditional cloverleaf.
Liz Belcher, Roanoke Valley Greenways coordinator, also liked the separate bridge slated for the Lick Run trail, which begins in downtown Roanoke. “From a safety standpoint we think that’s a great option for bikes and pedestrians. It will be a little bit longer…but definitely preferable to going through the middle of the interchange.”
VDOT spokesman Jason Bond said the community meeting was all about updating the public, letting them know the status of a plan that has sat idle due to a lack of funds. Bond said there will some delays during the build, which starts next spring, but the fact that a southbound ramp is already in place will help keep cars moving. “You can expect some lane closures and nighttime traffic impacts, much like what’s going on at Elm Avenue [where the interchange is being updated].”
As for the diverging diamond interchange, Bond said it was “only the second of its type in Virginia.” The first is still under construction at Zion Crossroads. Bond said the design was safer and “efficient for moving traffic. It [also] leaves a smaller footprint and less impact to property.”
New sound barrier walls and a widening of Valley View Boulevard near the on-ramps are also part of the plan. One local resident did have concerns that the sound walls could impede water flow and lead to flooding in some circumstances.
By Gene Marrano
