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Council reviews four VDOT SmartScale projects, staff to place reaffirmation resolution on March agenda
Summary
City staff and consultants updated council on four VDOT SmartScale-funded projects — two signal-coordination efforts, Lafayette Street widening, and a Monticello–Richmond roundabout — and said a resolution to reaffirm support and authorize agreement signing will be on the March agenda.
City staff and traffic consultants briefed the Williamsburg City Council on Feb. 10 on four previously awarded VDOT SmartScale projects and asked council to reaffirm support and authorize the city manager to approve agreements with VDOT as projects progress.
Jack Reid (city staff) introduced consultant Stephen Holland of Kimley‑Horn, who walked council through the four projects: signal coordination and pedestrian upgrades at three Lafayette Street intersections (Armistead, Boundary and Henry); signal coordination along the Richmond Road corridor; widening Lafayette Street between Bacon Avenue and the municipal center (adding 9-foot to 11-foot lanes, undergrounding utilities on portions of the corridor, adding a shared-use path and street lighting); and converting the Monticello Avenue–Richmond Road–Lafayette Street signalized intersection to a multi‑lane roundabout.
"This is signal coordination, that allows you to progress through those signals without getting stopped," Stephen Holland said of the Lafayette corridor work. Consultant Megan Campbell of Kimley‑Horn described safety and operational benefits of a roundabout and noted modern designs include pedestrian refuge islands and treatments to slow speeds and improve sight lines.
Holland and Campbell noted that cost estimates developed at application time (2018–2019) have risen. For the Monticello roundabout, the original SmartScale estimate was about $7 million; consultants now estimate a current range of roughly $8.8 million to $10.5 million and said the city would need to identify about $2 million to $3.5 million if VDOT does not fund the escalation. The Lafayette Street widening was originally estimated at just under $6 million; consultants said applying current VDOT estimating methods suggests a similar potential shortfall on that project. The two signal-coordination projects carry far smaller anticipated increases because they are engineering‑heavy rather than construction‑heavy.
Holland said preliminary engineering for the smaller projects could begin as early as July, and that the Lafayette widening and the roundabout include right‑of‑way and utility-relocation phases that staff currently expect to occur in 2027 with construction later in 2027–2029 depending on each project’s schedule.
Council members asked about pedestrian and bicyclist accommodations at the proposed roundabout and were told designs include marked crosswalks, refuge islands, rectangular rapid‑flashing beacons (RRFBs) at multi‑lane crossings and widened shared‑use path connections to Monticello Avenue. Council members asked how signal timing changes affect daily traffic; consultants said most changes are implemented so as to minimize driver disruption and that fieldtesting and post‑implementation adjustments are routine.
City staff said they will place a resolution on the March regular meeting agenda to reaffirm council support for the SmartScale projects and to authorize the city manager to sign project agreements with VDOT. Consultants and staff said they have already begun conversations with VDOT regarding potential funding for cost increases and that any decision about city funding of shortfalls will return to council for approval if necessary.
