A collaborative project between several local agencies is expected to bring relief to an ongoing school traffic problem in time for the start of the 2024-2025 school year.
Powhatan County Public Schools and the County of Powhatan have joined forces to ease traffic issues during drop-off and pick-up times at Powhatan Middle and Powhatan Elementary schools.
Work began on July 29 on a connector project that will utilize both schools’ parking lots during peak traffic times to minimize the disruptions on traffic along Old Buckingham Road.
The work is scheduled to wrap up before the start of the new school year on Aug. 19.
Superintendent Beth Teigen called the project a true collaboration between agencies, with input from the Schools, County, Fire and Rescue, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Virginia Department of Transportation being used to help find an effective solution to the back-up issues caused by waiting vehicles blocking the road in both directions at key times of the day. “The traffic congestion has been a concern in the community, and it is nice to see how everyone has come together,” Dr. Teigen said. “It truly has been a collaborative effort not only to get it done, but to get it done before another school year begins. The timeline for completion is tight, but everyone has made completion before August 19 a priority.” The project is only possible this fiscal year because it will be funded by $150,000 in Central Virginia Transportation Authority (CVTA) funds, according to County Administrator Bret Schardein. Funded by a regional gas tax across seven localities, CVTA funds are allocated as follows: 35% retained by the authority for regional projects, 15% to GRTC to provide transit services for the region, and 50% distributed, proportionally, to each locality to address local transportation needs.
While the county used some CVTA funds on a previous project for a turn lane extension along Anderson Highway that included business matches, the school parking lot connector will be the first project fully funded in Powhatan using CVTA monies, Schardein said.
“It either wouldn't be possible without those or it wouldn't be possible in this budget year. Because absent the state funds, we don't have a $150,000 transportation budget,” Schardein said. “So, we would have had to put in our (Capital Improvement Plan), talked about it during budgeting, and looked at maybe doing it next year. Having those CVTA funds allows us to be more nimble and reactive and go ahead and quickly come to a solution like this and get it built.”
Schardein added that while $150,000 is a large amount of money, as an entire solution to a transportation problem, it is deemed as a very efficient project.
“In transportation, you don't get that kind of impact for $150,000,” he said, adding that a local company, Webb Development LLC, was chosen as the contractor for the job.
School traffic by its very nature may often cause some delays, but the problem along Old Buckingham Road in the morning and afternoon really started to ramp up after the COVID-19 pandemic, as more families took their children to and from school, said Bob Benway, PCPS’s Director of Facilities. This led to long backups on the road, which blocked access to several local businesses as well as creating a hazard if an emergency vehicle needed to pass.
Having several agencies come to the table to help evaluate possible solutions along with the Timmons Group, a multi-disciplined engineering, design, and technology firm, was invaluable, because fixing one part of the problem might create issues in another area that may be spotted by someone approaching the problem with a different perspective, Benway said.
“It was an excellent collaboration of multiple parties that were vested in the program to come together and come up with an agreed upon solution,” Benway said. “I am confident that it will work. Ultimately it is going to keep traffic off of Old Buckingham Road and allow a safe place for the students to get to school when they enter and exit their vehicles, as long as they follow the process that is being created.”
Sheriff Brad Nunnally similarly noted that he is excited to see a solution found for the backup of vehicles along Old Buckingham Road, which has been a problem for years.
“It is great they are doing something to alleviate the traffic problem on Route 13. I will give credit where credit is due – I am very happy to see the schools come up with this solution,” he said.
Powhatan Middle Principal Colin Innes said he and Powhatan Elementary Principal Constance Deal will send out instructions to families on how the new connector will be used during their respective drop-off and pick-up times as well as creating videos to show the process. At the start of the school year, Powhatan Middle families will need to enter through the front entrance of Powhatan Elementary School’s parking lot and follow the signs as well as directions from school resource officers, staff, and volunteers there directing traffic.
