Aug. 10 meeting to address Three Chopt Road sidewalk plans

On Aug. 10, the Henrico County Department of Public Works will hold a citizen information meeting about its Three Chopt Road sidewalk project, construction of which is expected to begin in February 2023.

The project, which is estimated to cost $2.17 million, will install 5-foot-wide sidewalks and a curb ramp from Bexhill Road to Dinwiddie Avenue on both sides of Three Chopt Road, as well as pedestrian crosswalks with push button crossing signals at Camden Drive.

The sidewalk on the north side of Three Chopt Road will total about 2,100 feet and run from the Bexhill Road intersection to the current sidewalk near Dinwiddie Avenue. The sidewalk on the south side of the road will run from the Camden Drive intersection to the Dinwiddie Avenue one. Both will have ramps compatible with the American Disabilities Act.

Monday’s meeting will run from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Ridge Elementary School, 8910 Three Chopt Road.

The meeting will not include speakers, Capital Projects Manager Kevin Newcomb said.

“We’re going to set it up at an open format where you can come through, you see the project plans, typical sections,” he said, “ask any questions of staff — of course following safety procedures that we have in place now — and have the table for a comment form as well as a way to register your comments online through a website.”

The public comment period for the project will close Aug. 26.

The project design began in March 2019. The department modeled the county using Geographic Information System technology and other tools to identify areas of the county with gaps in sidewalks that needed to be filled, said Public Works Assistant Director of Transportation and Development Todd Eure.

The area of Three Chopt Road in question was selected because the department focused on access to schools and found worn paths where the sidewalks end in front of Douglas S. Freeman High School, and because new paths there could connect to the existing network of sidewalks to retail and Freeman and expand it eastward toward Forest Avenue and the Forest Office Park.

“That seemed like a logical connection we could make for a relatively low cost on both sides of the road,” Eure said.

Additionally, this corridor has bus stops with only grass at the moment.

The department anticipates beginning right-of-way acquisition — the process of purchasing the necessary private property — in April 2021. It plans to begin relocating utilities in February 2022, to advertise construction in October of that year, and to begin construction in February 2023. The project’s anticipated completion is December 2023.

Citizens have driven the initiative for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure both by speaking to their Board of Supervisors representatives and by contacting the department directly, Eure said.

“Maybe 10 years ago we did not get nearly as many requests — now we probably get more requests for sidewalk and bike facilities than we do for improving road,” Eure said.

The department has programs in various stages for 25 miles of sidewalks and 5 miles of paved trails in the county during the next two to three years, Eure said, that will include construction in every district. Some are independent projects and some are part of road improvements, he said.

The department is considering adding trails in parts of the Varina District that don’t have curbs or gutters because sidewalks are more difficult to put in without those in place, he said.

Information and contact details for the Three Chopt Sidewalk project may be viewed at https://henrico.us/projects/three-chopt-sw/.