Route 221 Corridor Plan

Download the plan here

The Route 221 Corridor Plan was prepared by the Region 2000 Local Government Council and the consultant firm, Engineering & Planning Resources (EPR) in partnership with both Bedford County and the City of Lynchburg. The plan was adopted by City Council into the City’s Comprehensive Plan on November 11, 2014.

The study investigated existing and future traffic conditions, operations, multimodal features, and safety issues along the heavily traveled Lakeside Drive/Forest Road between Cloverhill Boulevard in Bedford County and Forest Brook Road in the City of Lynchburg. Recommendations of the study included coordinating traffic signals, intersection improvements to add specified turn lanes and to allow additional turning movements in existing lanes, the addition of sidewalks and pedestrian signals, and the inclusion of separated bicycle infrastructure in the long-term. Specifically, a multi-use path should be incorporated into Lakeside Drive east of the Lynchburg Expressway.

Even with recommended improvements, travel time along the corridor will continue to decline with time. Widening is suggested as a way to reduce travel time degradation, though widening cannot eliminate these issues. Generally, widening roadways is considered a temporary solution in planning as doing so briefly eases congestion but also facilitates additional vehicular trips which will return a road to its prior state of congestion.

Public meetings were held twice a day on both January 30^th, 2014 and April 10^th, 2014 at the public library in Forest. Additionally, a website was developed to gather further input from citizens.  Over 140 citizens participated through either the meetings or the website. A summary of public concerns is available in Chapter 6 and full comments are provided in the Appendix, many of which were addressed by the study.

If you have any questions regarding the plan, contact the Department of Community Development at 434-455-3900.