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By Daniel Evans

City officials hope a planned $12.7 million widening project on Bridge Road will enhance traffic flow on one of Suffolk’s busiest thoroughfares.

The project spans 0.1 miles west of Windward Lane to Harbour View Boulevard, according to city documents. The idea is to expand travel lanes in both directions on Bridge Road (Route 17), adding to the improvements underway at Shoulder’s Hill Road, which include increasing the number of traffic lanes. A 2023 project also added a 10-foot-wide multi-use path to the east side of Shoulder’s Hill Road from Weatherby Way / Belmont Boulevard to Bennett’s Creek Park Road.

The road widening on Bridge Road would also be in addition to the “innovative intersection” planned at the Bridge Road/Harbour View Boulevard intersection, a project presented at the November Suffolk City Council meeting. 

There are several elements to the Bridge Road widening project, which is still in the early stages. At this point, the 30% plan, which allows for a visual of the overall design, is available on the Suffolk website, but the actual construction is still years away. 

As part of the project, the city website says a third lane will be added to the merge lane, extending just west of the Harbour View Drive intersection to Bridgeport Way.

The road widening will begin at Breezeport Way and end at Plummer Boulevard.

Along with the road widening, three traffic signals and an emergency signal will be replaced, plus sidewalks will be added. A 10-foot-wide sidewalk will be added to the east side of Route 17, connecting Harbour View Boulevard and Breezeport Way, and a 5-foot sidewalk will be built to the west side of Route 17, from Breezeport Way to Plummer Boulevard.

Preliminary engineering work is still ongoing, and construction is expected in fall 2028.

The total project cost is expected to be $12,796,731. Construction costs are projected at $7,527,488, right-of-way acquisition is $3,763,744 and preliminary engineering is budgeted at $1,505,499.