CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Some drivers are voicing concerns over traffic near the new Wegmans on Midlothian Turnpike.
“It literally took me two hours to make three stops in just this little congested area,” said driver Stephen Bodiford.
Chesterfield crews have been working on widening route 60 from four lanes to six while construction crews are working to finish Wegmans and the turning lanes to get to the store. It’s caused a lot of congestion in the area and some are worried the congestion won’t go away once the store opens. That includes Bodiford and his wife.
“We feel like it’s just going to be a traffic jam and opt to go somewhere else just based on the traffic,” said Bodiford.
“I waited about a half an hour one day and figured that was enough,” said another driver, David Pierce.
Pierce drives around the area for work all the time, saying he now takes a three-mile detour using Robious Road to avoid traffic in the area. We spoke with transportation officials in Chesterfield who say the widening project has been on the county’s to do list for 30 years. They say they believe current congestion is connected to the perfect storm of construction between the county and Wegmans, but don’t expect traffic to be anywhere close to what it is now as the store opens.
“Of course we’re going to check it out, however I don’t think we’ll be making this trip if the traffic is like what it is today,” said Bodiford.
Currently Chesterfield says 32,000 vehicles travel through the corridor. They expect that number to jump to 52,000 in the next twenty years, but they say the wider road should be able to handle the increase with no problems. Some drivers agree.
“I don’t anticipate a problem. Maybe initially when the store opens there will be a lot of traffic down there but it will all smooth out,” said Pierce.
The widening project is expected to be complete in summer of 2016.
