Just in time for the influx of holiday shopping traffic, low-budget roadway improvements recently completed at the intersection of Fremont Avenue and Independence Street are expected to have a significant impact on traffic flow through the busy retail corridor.
Completed in early November 2019, the improvement project involved the widening of Independence Street, just east of the Fremont Avenue intersection, to provide dual westbound left-turn lanes. The Fremont Avenue Bridge over James River Freeway was also restriped to four lanes, providing a dedicated northbound right turn lane which allows through traffic on Fremont to funnel around those attempting to turn east onto Independence.
“Fremont and Independence is one of the City’s busiest intersections during the holiday shopping season,” says Eric Claussen, Public Works Traffic Engineer over Operations. “Once we determined these intersection tweaks would be feasible, we were thrilled to be able to complete this project quickly so we could start easing traffic delays prior to the holidays.”
Aiding in turnaround time and budget, the project was able to be designed and constructed using internal Public Works staff. Construction occurred in the overnight hours to help minimize impacts to existing traffic.
The total project cost was approximately $25,000, funded through the 1/8-cent Transportation Sales Tax.