After public outcry over a massive warehouse complex being built not far from downtown Suffolk, city leaders are planning a major road project that they say will mitigate residents’ traffic concerns.
The city plans to improve a section of Route 460 as part of a $86.8 million road project. City leaders say it will increase capacity on a major roadway near the planned 10 building, 5-million-square-foot Port 460 warehouse complex. The road project will get $30.1 million from the state’s Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund.
“This significant allocation of Transportation Partnership Opportunity Funds by the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board provides a rare opportunity to address a projected traffic mitigation concern before it becomes a major issue,” said Suffolk Mayor Mike Duman in a July 16 announcement.
The project would widen a 2.3-mile section of Route 460, from the Route 58 bypass to Lake Prince Drive, as well as redesign the Route 460 and 58 interchange.
The roadway project follows public criticism of the huge warehouse development , which is planned near the interchange. After a 2022 City Council vote to rezone the property to allow the development, Duman told The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press about 41% of the complaints revolved around its impact on traffic.