Notes From Last Night’s Meeting on Traffic Changes to Semmes/Forest Hill/34th/Dundee

Last night a meeting was held at Patrick Henry School to discuss the proposal for changes to the traffic pattern at Semmes/Forest Hill/34th/Dundee.  See above.

The impetus for this proposal is to improve safety for students of Patrick Henry and residents in the area. DPW applied for and was awarded two cost-share grants from VDOT for the project.

John Murden (thanks John) was there and wrote up this excellent summary that he was willing to share. This proposal is still in the planning stages with the engineering scheduled for this fiscal year,  which means at the earliest construction would be next fiscal year or 2020. When we hear about the next meeting we’ll let you know.

I went to the meeting last night about the proposed changes to the traffic pattern at Semmes/Forest Hill/34th/Dundee (image attached).

The core idea is the addition of a stop light at 34th and Semmes. To justify the cost of the stoplight, the block of Forest Hill behind WPA/Laura Lee’s etc will be east-bound only, to force traffic up 34th to Semmes.

There will also be changes to the lights at Dundee/Semmes/Forest Hill, but not a roundabout as the funding source does not allow for taking the necessary land from the nearby school.

The intersection at 34th and Semmes, and the Dundee intersection will have extended curbs and details to make them more pedestrian friendly – reducing the distance from one side of the road to the other.

Several members of the audience asked if Semmes can be one-lane in front of the commercial strip, and also in front of the school to allow for drop-off.

It sounded like there are no plans at this time to extend the bike lane.

It was said that this is the beginning of the process and there will be future opportunities for community input.