RELEASE: CONTACT:

IMMEDIATE Sandy Shortridge VDOT () 757-925-3627 sandy.shortridge@virginiadot.org Harry Kenyon Chesapeake () 757-382-6983

HRO-0317 March 28, 2003

Governor Warner Kicks Off U.S. Route 17 Project in Chesapeake

CHESAPEAKE – Gov. Mark R. Warner staked out the future of the U.S. Route 17 improvement project in Chesapeake today. The nearly 12-mile project will improve safety for motorists and better serve the increased traffic volume heading to North Carolina and the Outer Banks.

“When completed in the fall of 2005, the new Route 17 will be an improvement not only for the City of Chesapeake and Hampton Roads motorists, but for everyone traveling through Virginia,” Gov. Warner said. “The impact stretches far beyond our region.”

Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward, Congressman J. Randy Forbes and other local officials joined Governor Warner to drive surveyor stakes where the project begins.

Route 17 is currently a two-lane undivided highway from Dominion Boulevard to the state line. It widens to four lanes in North Carolina. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will add two lanes on the east side of Route 17 for about 1.3 miles north of the state line. The $41 million project will also include the construction of a new 10.3-mile section about 1,000 yards east of the current road. The project is slated for completion in the fall of 2005.

Relocating the road will limit disturbance to the Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge and surrounding forests and wetlands. As part of this project, VDOT is donating 758 acres of existing wetlands to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries as wetland preservation. The property will be designated as a wildlife management area for use by citizens. The old Route 17 will remain in place for local access to property and recreational areas along the Dismal Swamp Canal.

In 2001, Route 17 carried about 10,000 vehicles daily with volumes projected to increase to 19,400 by 2020. The new Route 17 will allow for a more free flow of traffic by restricting areas where traffic enters and exits the road.

For more information about this project, click
here