VDOT project is preparing Mudd Tavern Road to carry double the amount of traffic by 2042.
by Hank Silverberg
CORRESPONDENT
It is a replay of a pattern which has changed the nature of northern and central Virginia over the last few decades—a once rural intersection in southeastern Spotsylvania County is being redone to deal with increased traffic and major development. What was once a scenic road past farms and summer cottages is slowly transforming into a suburban commerce center with heavy traffic.
Until now, the Mudd Tavern area near Thornberg was noted only for its role as a staging point for Confederate troops retreating toward Richmond in 1864, after the battle at Spotsylvania Courthouse.
But last week, the traffic pattern on the formerly rural road and U.S. 1 was revamped as part of a $25.7 million highway project that is already behind schedule.
The Virginia Department of Transportation is rebuilding Mudd Tavern Road (State Route 606) between Interstate 95 exit number 118 and historic U.S. 1, known in that area as Patriot Highway.
That includes adding a roundabout to the 0.62 miles mark of Mudd Tavern Road and building a 0.44-mile parallel roadway to be known as Route 2092, with a second roundabout to help syphon off traffic heading northbound on U.S. 1. Sidewalks designed for walking, running, and biking are also included. It’s now scheduled for completion by the summer of 2025.
Mudd Tavern Road currently carries an average of 15,000 vehicles per day along that stretch, but a VDOT study estimates that traffic will almost double to 28,000 by 2042.
The projection also includes an additional 10,500 vehicles per day on the connector road by 2044. Both roads would feed into U.S. 1.
The traffic study for Mudd Tavern Road and the intersection improvement was done before the approval of a major nearby entertainment development—and that has some local residents concerned about the impact.
Site work has already begun less than a mile away on the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center that will take up 175 acres of land between U.S. 1 and I-95 and could be completed and opened as early as 2026.
The project includes a 900-room hotel, a large convention center, a ten-acre indoor and outdoor water park, and multiple restaurant and retail sites, and is projected to generate as much as $7 million per year in tax revenue for Spotsylvania County.
Christine Ferguson, who has worked behind the counter of the NAPA Auto Parts store at the intersection for a decade, says she has watched the traffic grow rapidly over the last five years in what she says used to be a quiet area. She commutes from Caroline County, but her mother lives near the intersection. “My mother can’t sit out on the porch of her house anymore, it’s too noisy,” says Ferugson, who worries about the traffic.
Paul Agnello, Spotsylvania County’s director of transportation, says most of the traffic estimates for that intersection are based on the morning and afternoon rush hours between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., and between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. He says most of the traffic to the Kalahari Resort will be generated on the weekends. But Ferguson says Saturday traffic is already pretty backed up now.
The money for the road improvement project comes from a combination of federal, state and local funds. Spotsylvania County’s share is just over $11 million for both roads.
Kalahari Resorts, which operates four other parks in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, is investing an estimated $900 million in the Spotsylvania site. In a news release before the ground-breaking, the company said the resort would provide more than 1,400 full- and part-time jobs.
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