VDOT to Study Ladysmith Road Traffic
The road is carrying increased traffic due to new residential and commercial development.
By Hank Silverberg
CORRESPONDENT
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The Virginia Department of Transportation wants to hear about current traffic conditions from people who travel Ladysmith Road in Caroline County every day.
A survey is open now seeking input on potential safety and operational improvements to the approximately 1.5-mile stretch of road between Green Road and Bull Church Road and the interchange with Interstate 95 at Exit 110.
VDOT—under the Strategically Targeted Affordable Roadway Solutions, or STARS, program—plans to present draft recommendations for potential projects along Ladysmith Road (State Route 639) to the public later this summer. But there have been no dates set for construction.
Traffic along Ladysmith Road has increased significantly over the last few years because of new development. VDOT says the section between the highway and Bull Church Road carries about 6,200 vehicles a day.
Caroline County Administrator Charles Culley says that area of the county is growing significantly with new housing and retail construction and that more is planned.
He says the county has asked that VDOT look at the obstructed site line coming off I-95 for people making turns onto Ladysmith Road in both directions. He says it is the last diamond shaped intersection in the region.
“We’d like to see the bridge over I-95 widened and pedestrian accommodations made,” Culley said in an interview with the Advance. That would mean sidewalks and improvements to an existing trail.
Exit 110 is also the closest northbound I-95 interchange to the new Kalahari Resort and Convention Center that is currently under construction on along U.S. 1 in southern Spotsylvania County. The resort, which is scheduled to open next year, will include a water park and a 907-room hotel.
Culley says the impact from the resort on Caroline roadways could be minimal since arrivals and departures from that venue will not all be at the same time.
The survey will be open through April 9.
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