RELEASE: CONTACT:

IMMEDIATE Erin Gregg VDOT (), 757-925-2584 Harry Kenyon Chesapeake (), (757) 382-6983

HRO-0305 Jan. 16, 2003

Transportation board awards $41 million contract for Route 17 in Chesapeake

The Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded a $41 million road construction contract for the new Route 17 (George Washington Highway) in Chesapeake today. The highway improvement project, nearly 12 miles total, will improve safety for motorists and better serve the increased traffic volume heading to North Carolina and the Outer Banks.
The board awarded the contract to Barnhill Contracting Company of Tarboro, North Carolina. Construction should begin in March and is expected to last about two and a half years.

Route 17 is a two-lane undivided highway from Dominion Boulevard to the state line in Chesapeake that widens to four lanes in North Carolina. The improvements will begin at the state line where two lanes will be added on the east side of the road for about 1.3 miles. In this area, the existing road will be widened slightly and become the southbound lanes of the new four-lane road. The department will construct the remaining 10.3 miles on a new location about 1,000 yards east of where the road is now.
The new highway will be east of the existing Route 17 in order to limit disturbance to the Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge and surrounding forests and wetlands. 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 be a limited access road, which allows for more free flow of traffic by restricting areas where traffic enters and exits the road.

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