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Henrico OKs contract for second phase of John Rolfe Parkway
March 1, 2010 - The Henrico Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously - and enthusiastically - approved a $4.41 million contract with F.G. Pruitt Inc. of Richmond to build the second phase of the John Rolfe Parkway.
Work on the four-lane divided road from Pump Road to Ridgefield Parkway - a 1.136-mile stretch - is expected to start this spring and finish by the fall of 2011.
Phase I, a 2.7-mile stretch from West Broad Street to just south of Church Road, is under construction with the portion between West Broad and Three Chopt Road already complete, Public Works Director Timothy A. Foster said.
Phase I, which also includes improvements to portions of Church and Pump roads, cost $11.1 million.
Once both phases are complete, John Rolfe will extend from Lauderdale Drive to West Broad Street. A portion of John Rolfe now runs from Lauderdale to Ridgefield Parkway.
John Rolfe has been envisioned since the mid-1960s, and for a time it was to be an interstate-style link between Interstate 295 in western Henrico and state Route 288 in Chesterfield County. That was before the path of Route 288's northern leg was pushed westward in the late 1980s, resulting in John Rolfe being redesigned for local traffic.
"I guess this is 40 years in the making," Foster told the supervisors last week when he requested the approval to grant the contract.
John Rolfe will provide another north-south artery for neighborhoods south of Broad, relieving traffic on Pump and Church roads.
The improvement will result in a 40 percent to 50 percent reduction in traffic on Pump Road between Church and Three Chopt roads, Foster said. He said the road will divert traffic from the intersection of Pump Road/Pouncey Tract Road and West Broad Street, which will allow for a more efficient traffic signal operation.
F.G. Pruitt submitted the lowest of nine bids that ranged from $4.41 million to $5.88 million, below the engineer's December estimate of $7.8 million.
The Virginia Department of Transportation will cover 80 percent of the cost, and the county will cover the rest through its Capital Improvement Fund.
The construction also includes a new traffic signal at Pump Road and John Rolfe.