Roanoke’s six-month lane change demonstration on 2 miles of Williamson Road has come to an end, and despite heightened controversy and signs opposing changes lining the road, the city says it hasn’t seen substantive changes in traffic patterns.
Williamson Road is one of the valley’s major thoroughfares: About 600 businesses line its 10-mile length through Roanoke and Roanoke County, and it’s used by 15,000 vehicles per day, according to the city’s website.
It’s also been the site of numerous vehicle crashes over the years — something that residents and business owners attribute to difficult turns, poorly designed sidewalk crossings, frequent speeding and limited visibility due to closely packed buildings and signs.
Of the 49 people who died in traffic incidents in Roanoke between 2019 and 2023, 18% of those fatalities were on Williamson Road, in about a 3-mile stretch between Orange Avenue and Airport Road. A third of the city’s pedestrian fatalities during that timeframe happened on Williamson Road.
In 2020, the Roanoke City Council created a Vision Zero Action Plan, committing to a goal of zero traffic deaths and serious injuries citywide by 2035.
Roanoke was one of 64 communities selected to receive technical assistance through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Thriving Communities Program, which helps cities design safer streets. In September, the city restriped 2 of its 4 miles of Williamson Road between Angell Avenue and Pocahontas Avenue. The changes included turning two of the four lanes into a center turn lane and adjusting traffic signal timing.
Valerie Brown, executive director of the Greater Williamson Road Business Association, said that the city also received U.S. Department Of Transportation funding for an ongoing facade project, where property owners can receive help with painting, landscaping and signage. Brown said five businesses have been assisted through the facade program so far.
The association acts as a chamber of commerce for the businesses along the corridor, Brown said. The group consists of about 200 paid members but is in contact monthly with a little over 600 businesses, Brown said. She has heard mixed opinions from the business community about the lane changes.
“I just ask people to be patient,” she said of the traffic changes. “I think it’s working.”
City reports little change in travel patterns
Ross Campbell, the city’s director of public works, said in an emailed statement that traffic engineers found traffic volume and travel times have not changed significantly as a result of the project. A March presentation to the steering committee, put together by the city, stated that any decreases in traffic volume were in line with expected seasonal variations.
That presentation also noted a slight increase in travel time along northbound Williamson Road during the evening peak hour, but a slight decrease in traffic time on the southbound side during that time.
Traffic engineers also found that travel speeds were generally unchanged by the lane changes. Updated crash data should be available from the Virginia Department of Transportation over the summer, Campbell said.
The city surveyed almost 1,000 people about the changes and talked with businesses and residents; feedback was evenly split between supporters and opponents to the changes, Campbell said.
The road will remain paved as it is now until the steering committee, which consists of about 19 stakeholders, including residents and business owners, makes a recommendation to the city council for permanent changes over the summer.
Businesses, neighbors have mixed reactions to the changes
Vance Overstreet, president of Northwest Ace Hardware, said that he has seen congestion on the road increase throughout the last six months.
He said he is on board with safety improvements. His store hasn’t seen many direct effects from the project, he said, but it takes longer to get out onto the road from his parking lot.
He said he believes that the retiming of the lights has been beneficial, but that it shouldn’t have been completed at the same time as the road painting.
Road construction in general hurts businesses, Overstreet said, because drivers detour onto other streets. He said he hasn’t seen investments made to support those businesses during traffic changes and construction.
Overstreet said he signed a petition of over 3,000 people who were opposed to the project.
Ben Burch, president of the neighborhood watch group in Airlee Court — which is bisected by Williamson Road — said he believes that the changes made it harder for emergency vehicles to get in and out of his neighborhood, and that he’s noticed more traffic on Plantation Road, Hershberger Road and through the neighborhood’s streets, as motorists try to avoid Williamson Road.
He said he’d like to see the road go back to its original four lanes, with a multiuse path on one side for bikes and people.
Hussain Ghanizada, who owns the A1 Afghan Grocery and Restaurant, said he thinks that the city did a great job with the changes, but that it will take time for people to get used to them. Ghanizada also owns a second business on Williamson Road, A1 Car Sales.
He said the only places he’s still noticing issues, like frequent horn-honking and near-accidents, are at either end of the 2-mile demonstration segment, where two lanes merge into one lane. Other than that, he said he’s seen a reduction in accidents over the last six months.
Ghanizada’s restaurant isn’t easy to miss — the building is bright purple, decorated with multicolored string lights and surrounded by a white picket fence. But he said he’s heard from some new customers who said they didn’t even see the business until they were forced to drive more slowly on a single lane.
Brown said she also thinks people are recognizing other businesses that they wouldn’t have noticed before. She said she hopes that people will stop and shop, instead of just using the road to get from point A to point B.
What’s next for Williamson Road
Brown said the existing changes are only “the tip of the iceberg” for the Williamson Road project.
The steering committee will next need to find money for sidewalks and landscaping, she said, and lane changes need to be considered for the rest of the road.
Roanoke County is also working on improving its 6-mile section of Williamson Road, though it’s not as busy as the city’s section.
That’s because the lots are larger, and there are fewer entrances onto the road, Megan Cronise, assistant director of planning in the county, said in an interview.
“It’s a different kind of footprint of development than in the city. … It’s really a little more suburban,” Cronise said.
She said the county is working on a state funding application to build a roundabout at Williamson Road and Peters Creek Road. The preapplication has been submitted, and the full application is due over the summer, she said.
The county unsuccessfully applied for the grant two years ago, she said, so it has broken the project into smaller pieces, the roundabout being the focus now, to have a better chance this time.
She said she estimates that the project would cost from $20 million to $30 million to complete.
Cronise also said the county hears from residents who want the road to be more accessible — she said she often sees pedestrians and motorized wheelchairs on the road shoulder.
VDOT is constructing sidewalk extensions along a stretch less than a mile long on Williamson Road, from North Roanoke Assisted Living to Plymouth Drive, which will be completed later this year, she said.
County roads are maintained through VDOT, and Cronise said the county has fewer opportunities to test new traffic scenarios as the city has done over the last six months.
The Envision Williamson Road steering committee will meet over the summer before making a recommendation to the city to keep the changes or move in another direction. Campbell said sidewalk improvements in the city’s section of the road will be considered in future phases of the project. Brown said the majority of the road lacks sidewalks, and the existing sidewalks need to be replaced.
