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Gates County pursues express designs for US‑13 and US‑158 to improve safety
Summary
A regional planner told the commissioners the county will seek express design cost estimates for modernization projects on US‑13 and US‑158, focusing on safety (wider shoulders, rumble strips, possible roundabouts/RCI) rather than full multi‑lane expansion, with submission deadlines pushed to June.
The Gates County Board heard a regional transportation briefing outlining near-term steps to improve safety on two primary corridors.
Ethan Summers of the Albemarle Commission told the board staff plan to obtain express design cost estimates for modernization projects on US‑13 (north of 158) and US‑158 (including the section near two schools and the intersection at Acorn Hill Road). Summers said the county will pursue measures that increase safety without full roadway widening — for example, wider shoulders, two‑way left‑turn lanes in some segments, rumble strips, and reduced‑conflict intersections or roundabouts where appropriate.
“We are really struggling at the state level to get any funding at all,” Summers said, describing how statewide prioritization favors congestion metrics that often disadvantage rural projects; he recommended pushing projects into a modernization category that emphasizes safety and freight rather than congestion so they will score better in the State Transportation Improvement Program prioritization process.
Summers explained the express design step is a focused cost‑estimate study, not construction: "express design is just them going through and doing a really quick mapping out on the computer and giving them the cost," he said, adding those designs will let the county split large projects into smaller, more competitive submissions.
Commissioners asked practical questions about whether modernization meant extra travel lanes (it generally does not) and how the county coordinates with Virginia planning bodies on cross‑border corridor upgrades; Summers said the Albemarle Commission coordinates regionally and has contacted Hampton Roads planners regarding US‑13 north of the state line.
What’s next: staff will finalize express‑design scopes, submit cost‑estimate requests and monitor how projects score in the June prioritization cycle. The county intends to use express designs to make targeted safety upgrades that are more competitive for limited state funds.
