HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — An overnight paint job ending early Wednesday morning helped make one of Henrico County's busiest intersections safer.
Before the Labor Day weekend, the intersection of Parham Road and Patterson Avenue in western Henrico was a point of concern for some drivers.
That's because misaligned turning lanes that controlled east and westbound traffic caused drivers turning at the same time to pass too close for comfort.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) said the mistake in this $14.1 million intersection improvement project came down to the turn lanes being marked 20 feet off from the original plan.
Some took to social media about this issue, posting pictures of an accident that happened there before the holiday weekend. Cones were placed at the intersection early Saturday for preventative measures.
Henrico County Public Works confirmed with the CBS 6 Problems Solvers that it received many phone calls about problems with the intersection. The intersection project, however, is under the guidance of VDOT and is completed through a contractor.
VDOT said it began work because a concerned driver reached out to the department directly.
“Certainly VDOT responds to any safety concerns right away," Melanie Stokes, a spokesperson with VDOT. "It was a holiday weekend so Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, we were out there last night correcting those pavement markings. The cones were in there in the meantime to make time nobody used those two turn lanes and those were out immediately by Henrico County.”
VDOT said the spacing issue was observed shortly after installation and was being investigated during the same timeframe in which Henrico County began receiving inquiries.
"These issues are typically corrected prior to opening the roadway to traffic," Stokes said. "To ensure correct pavement marking spacing installation in the future, VDOT inspection staff will continue to make sure and be extra vigilant that the contractor's work conforms with the approved plans."
Lisa Martin, who works at Cater2Events the Beverly Hills Shopping Center beside the intersection, called the intersection a nightmare, saying the project has consistently caused traffic backups and issues within the store's parking lot during construction staging.
The project is said to be completed by this October, a sight Martin said will be better for business.
“I just hope that the traffic flows better. Especially once we get into holiday season. This becomes just jammed. Sometimes you can’t even get out of our parking lot," Martin said. "It would be nice to have some alleviation with this with the light cycles and stuff and it’s nice we have a right turn lane coming off of that side now.”
VDOT said it would make this issue part of future inspector staff trainings, and discuss it with the contractor community.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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