Find us on Facebook
Follow us on TwitterA new way to connect Riverside and Piedmont drives
File photo
Pending final approval from Danville City Council tonight, crews will begin work this summer on the Park Avenue extension, which will connect Piedmont Drive north of the Robertson Bridge to Riverside Drive just east of Barkhouser Ford.
There are already traffic lights at both ends of the project — one near Danville Stadium Cinemas and Barkhouser Ford, and a second light on Piedmont Drive that has not yet been turned on.
City Council will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on the proposal before voting on the measure.
Purpose
The new Robertson Bridge will eliminate the sharp left turn southbound motorists on Piedmont Drive have to make to get onto eastbound Riverside Drive. Instead, those southbound drivers will take the Park Avenue extension behind Barkhouser Ford to get to Riverside Drive.
Cost
The project’s estimated cost will be $700,000, according to city engineer Kent Shelton, and is a separate project from the Robertson Bridge replacement. The biggest costs are for paving, storm drainage and grading the property.
Half of the funding will come from highway department revenue sharing and half from Danville’s capital improvement program.
Road length
The length of the new two-lane road will be 1,100 feet — or slightly more than 1/5 of a mile.
Timeline
Shelton said the project should begin this summer, with hopes to complete it by Christmas. Traffic will be permanently diverted to the new route as soon as construction is complete.
The two property owners, Alex Perkins and Richard Barkhouser, will subdivide adjoining lots and begin building commercial businesses along the road, Shelton said, opening up the area for new development.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
I think before Perkins starts anymore projects he needs to FINISH what he has started…for example the apt complex on Route 41…they started the sign for the entrance LAST summer and it’s still not finished…when he pitched his idea to city council I recall him saying he was modeling that complex after places in Cary NC…that’s a major joke in my opinion because so far I see no buffer of trees, no landscaping and not even a sign for the entrance…give me a break!
This town sure doesn’t have a hard time finding ways to spend our money. Might be different if it was a boom town but really!I see all the new cars and the frivolous spending, then I open my gas bill in the wintertime and know it’s time to get the heck out of Danville!
I don’t why they think a new bridge is going to be much less of a traffic jam on the south end than the current one. Foolishly, they abandoned the idea of lining up Park Ave.(south) with the end of the bridge. It will still be a logjam, albeit slightly less of a logjam than it is now.
Then again, with the prospect of the economic depression we are currently experiencing continuing into the next decade, the new bridge might well be carrying a lot less traffic than the current one.
Maybe China will forget to mail the check.
We and our children, even grandchildren will be paying for this excessive spending for the rest of our lives, so we may as well get something out of it. As far as the excessive traffic, isn’t that what the new bridge is supposed to be for? We don’t need more empty box buildings. We need to quit sending our jobs overseas and across the two borders. But the politicians don’t want to hear that, do they?
The city has been planning this for years. They finally obtained the funds through the President’s Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The idea is to alleviate the congestion on the Robertson Bridge. I don’t go that way to get home after work, but I have from time to time when I needed to run errands either on Riverside or Piedmont. I can say this…....I have had to wait at that bridge for 4 or 5 lights several times as so many use that bridge. It’s a go, so let’s hope it works.
It’s been like this forever just leave it alone and stop spending money because Lord knows you dont have it to spend. It will cost us the tax payeers.
You might want to also read in the article that street lights have already been installed on Riverside Dr. It is so obvious this new road frontage was designed and planned for in the past when the movie theater and Ruby Tuesday were approved. This a cozy relationship that should not have occurred.
The REAL reason for this rather unusual road extension is right at the end of the article; to give Perkins and Barkhouser road frontage on which to build more empty retail space. Because God knows we don’t have enough empty buildings in town.
Advertisement