VDOT presents plans for bridge over Gooney Creek

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By Linwood Outlaw III -- loutlaw@nvdaily.com

FRONT ROYAL -- State highway officials want to replace a faulty bridge on U.S. 340 that has reached the end of its life span.

Representatives of the Virginia Department of Transportation held a public information meeting at Skyline High School on Wednesday afternoon to present their preliminary blueprint for replacing the deteriorating, 24-foot wide Gooney Creek bridge located at the bottom of a steep hill on U.S. 340 south of Front Royal in Warren County.

The proposal is one of several road improvement projects being mulled by local and state officials, including a possible expansion of a bridge over the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and the replacement of a low-water bridge near Indian Hollow Road in Bentonville. Officials want to replace the Gooney Creek bridge with a new two-lane structure and approaches.

"The ultimate purpose of the project is to replace the bridge. ... It's structurally deficient. It's basically beyond its life span," project manager John-Allen Ennis said. "[The new bridge] will be wider than the existing bridge. The approach shoulders will be wider."

The current bridge was built in 1936 and no longer meets modern traffic needs, officials said. The bridge is structurally deficient and has substandard width and load capacity, according to a project description provided by VDOT on Wednesday. Even worse, Ennis said, the bridge has an 18.5 out of 100 sufficiency rating.

"This particular region, we do have accident history," Ennis said. "It doesn't show a high rate of accidents in this area relative to other, similar sections of the corridor."

Each lane on the new bridge will be 12 feet wide, officials said. Lanes on the approaches to the bridge will also be 12 feet wide and have 10-foot shoulders, of which 8 feet will be paved. Rumble strips will also be installed along the edge of the travel lane to separate vehicles from bicycles.

Additionally, officials want to make the roadway safer by reducing hills and curves in the area. More than 6,500 vehicles travel across the Gooney Creek bridge daily.

Two-lane traffic will likely be maintained throughout construction, officials said. The estimated cost of the project is $11.6 million. Ennis said after considering feedback from residents, officials want to hold a public hearing on the project in the spring of 2011. Construction could begin in 2013.

Residents can submit their comments in writing to VDOT's Staunton District Office at 811 Commerce Road, Staunton, VA 24401-9029. Comments can also be e-mailed to stauntoninfo@vdot.
virginia.gov. All comments must be received by Nov. 14.