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VDOT hearing draws local pushback after roundabouts removed from Lafayette/Kenmore/Charles redesign
Summary
VDOT presented preliminary engineering for the Lafayette Boulevard–Kenmore–Charles intersection, replacing earlier roundabout concepts with signal and lane‑reconfiguration options; commissioners, Pathways Committee members and residents urged stronger pedestrian protections and called for reconsideration of roundabouts and slip lanes.
VDOT engineers presented preliminary designs and gathered public comment for the Lafayette Boulevard intersection project at a Planning Commission session where several commissioners, members of the Pathways and Pathways Committee, and residents urged changes to pedestrian crossings and intersection geometry.
City staff introduced the VDOT‑administered project and its context in several ongoing studies including the downtown traffic engineering study, William Street corridor work and other initiatives linking the Virginia Central Railway (VCR) Trail to downtown. Mike Craig, a city planning staff member participating in the discussion, described the project as a critical downtown arterial improvement and noted past city input to earlier designs.
Presenters said the project was originally conceived to include multiple roundabouts but that VDOT’s preliminary plans, presented at a public hearing, removed the roundabouts citing grade and cost constraints. The project has a Smart Scale award of $7 million; preliminary VDOT estimates with roundabouts approached $10 million, and staff said cost and topography under the nearby bridge affected design choices. The VDOT concept shown to the commission retains a signal at Charles Street, implements pedestrian refuges and crosswalks at several legs, removes the stoplight at one leg and proposes channelization and turn‑lane adjustments on Lafayette to shorten pedestrian crossing distances.
Members of the Pathways Committee and residents told commissioners that the revised concept reduces the pedestrian and bicycle priority they expect for a downtown connector and pointed to slip lanes and wide turn radii as hazards for walkers. Aaron Frank, a Pathways Committee member, said the study should better align with the pathways and trail network and “there are a lot of crosswalks that are not very intuitive.” George Snead of Pathways said committee members favored the earlier roundabout concept for the safety benefits roundabouts often provide by slowing traffic.
Several commissioners and residents raised the same concerns at planning commission and City Council meetings: that the proposed design favors vehicular throughput over shorter crossings and pedestrian safety, that diagonal and slip lanes encourage unsafe crossings, and that the revised design could leave motorists and pedestrians confused at peak times such as when VRE trains discharge riders. Some commissioners suggested the city could consider contributing additional funds to restore one or more roundabouts if doing so would materially improve pedestrian safety.
VDOT and staff said the plans shown were preliminary and that the agency was seeking public comment; construction engineering is scheduled to be completed by 2027 with construction targeted in 2028–29, staff said. Commissioners agreed to consolidate feedback and consider a joint letter to VDOT requesting specific pedestrian improvements and clearer justification for the removal of roundabouts and slip lanes.
