Summer is fast approaching, and one of the main thoroughfares into the resort area continues to undergo a major overhaul.
Laskin Road is under construction and will be widened to eight lanes from four. The feeder lanes will be removed, and the Laskin Road Bridge, built in 1938, will be replaced.
Construction began in 2019 and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2023.
Residents of the LaFonda condominium complex, east of Hilltop, are enduring the brunt of it. Their parking abuts the construction. Driving in and out is a challenge and involves an awkward U-turn.
“It’s scary,” said Maureen Noden, who has owned a condominium in LaFonda for 18 years. “People don’t want to slow down. You got to pull a ‘Starsky and Hutch’ to get into the parking lot.”
But unlike the street savvy investigators from the 1970s TV show who hit curves at high speed in their red Gran Torino, Noden just wants to avoid getting rear-ended.
She’s also worried that the road widening will make flooding worse. The LaFonda parking lot sits at one of the lowest points on Laskin Road where “cars turn into boats,” after a lot of rain, Noden said.
The Virginia Department of Transportation recently provided an update on the Laskin Road project at the request of The Virginian-Pilot.
VDOT spokesperson Jordan-Ashley Walker wrote in an email the project includes drainage measures to capture runoff at the La Fonda entrance and other points along the road.
Utility upgrades are a big part of the project. New water, sanitary sewer and stormwater pipes have been installed between Red Robin Road and Winwood Drive. Various private utilities upgrades, including cable, fiber and natural gas, have also been installed in that area.
In late March, water line work was completed at Winwood Drive on the southside of Laskin Road, allowing that portion of road to reopen to traffic after being closed for approximately three months.
Walker also said that drivers need to be mindful of the reduced speed limit from 45 to 35 mph in the construction zone to keep people safe.
More work is planned:
Sanitary sewer and water pipes will continue to be installed from Winwood Drive toward the First Colonial Road intersection.
The bridge over Linkhorn Bay will be replaced. Construction of the north side of the existing bridge will happen first, Walker said.
Utility work at the heavily-traveled First Colonial-Laskin Road intersection will begin soon. VDOT plans to do as much work as possible during off-peak hours.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
