Bristol council endorses two VDOT Smart Scale grant applications for roadway projects

Bristol City Council voted to endorse two applications to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale program, staff said, authorizing the city to submit proposals that could fund a King Mill Pike reconstruction and a roundabout at Bottom Road and Suncrest Drive.

During a staff report, Dietrich said the King Mill Pike project would "reduce the curve in the Woodland Circle area" and add a right‑turn lane and a left‑turn lane to improve safety. Dietrich noted plans show one nearby driveway in the Woodland Circle area could be closed under the current design and said staff had met with the homeowner, "Mister Thomas," who "was fairly pretty aware of it" and not opposed. Dietrich recommended council approve a resolution of support to meet the Smart Scale application deadline.

Council members questioned technical details shown in the packet. Dietrich apologized that an image in the packet was an older picture and clarified the proposed stormwater detention pond in the updated plan is "longer and narrower" and provides slightly more area. He said the city has discussed potential mitigations — such as alternate roadway or driveway arrangements — with VDOT engineers.

For the Bottom Road and Suncrest Drive project Dietrich said VDOT adjusted an earlier design (which featured a cul‑de‑sac at McArthur Circle) to a roundabout with write‑in/write‑out access that preserves three of four access points. He told council the presented configuration "opens up 3 of the 4 potential access points" while noting the design would not include new sidewalks in the Smart Scale funding. Dietrich said sidewalks "should be able to put them in afterwards if we were to get funded or if we were to come up with city funding to install those sidewalks."

Dietrich outlined the Smart Scale schedule: applications are due the first week of August (staff cited an August 3 deadline), recommendations for funding are made after the start of the new year, and the Commonwealth Transportation Board would likely approve projects in May or June. He estimated that, under the Smart Scale process and depending on prioritization, preliminary engineering could start several years after approval and that "from approval to end of construction" the work could take "somewhere from 3 to 5 years." Council members urged early budgeting to add sidewalks sooner if the projects are approved.

Council made two separate motions to read the resolutions by caption and then voted by roll call to endorse both Smart Scale applications.

What happens next: Staff will finalize and submit the Smart Scale applications to VDOT by the deadline; if funded, engineering and construction schedules will depend on VDOT selection and prioritization.