Lee Highway Bridge Work Will Affect Exit 7 Area

By: David McGee/Bristol Herald Courier | TriCities.com
Published: March 13, 2008

BRISTOL, Va. – Plans to replace a Lee Highway bridge near Interstate 81’s Exit 7 could mean some slowdowns for motorists in the busy retail area.

City officials expect to begin work on the more than $2 million project by late spring or early summer, City Manager Bill Dennison said.

The six-lane concrete bridge will replace an existing three-lane bridge over Beaver Creek near the entrance to Evergreen Garden Center and Grand Furniture.

"This is a complex job in a highly congested area, and it will have to be done with traffic flowing," Dennison said. "We’ll build one half of the bridge at a time because we can’t detour. A lot of people will probably take 81 to bypass it."

Built in 1940, the current bridge has been scheduled for replacement for years, but state funding only recently became available, City Engineer Jack Hurlbert said.

"The bridge is needed for roadway capacity," Hurlbert said. "Lee Highway is inefficient in carrying the amount of traffic it currently carries."

Those interested can review the project plans at City Hall and ask questions. A public hearing has not been scheduled but will be held if a request is made to the city engineer by Monday.

The city will submit its plans to the Virginia Department of Transportation for final approval.

"The design is finished, and we have the necessary environmental permits," Dennison said.

If VDOT signs off on the project, the city can begin advertising for contractors.

"We hope to advertise the project by the end of March," Hurlbert said. "Once we make a selection within our budget, we expect it will take about six months to complete."

The wider bridge was planned in anticipation that the roadway eventually would be widened, Hurlbert said.

A VDOT plan to widen a section of the roadway from near Sugar Hollow Park to near Exit 10 would end about a mile away from the bridge.

Any widening would be considered an urban project, which means it would fall under VDOT guidelines and eligible for partial funding, but the city would contract the work.

"It [widening] has already been identified as a need, but it’s not in the VDOT six-year plan," Hurlbert said.

The new bridge would function just like the current one with only three traffic lanes until the road is widened, Hurlbert said.

dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532