The Virginia Department of Transportation will hold a location and design public hearing concerning improvements to Queen Street in the Town of Strasburg.

The public hearing will be held December 9, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Town Hall in Strasburg.

Citizens can come in during the meeting hours and discuss the project on a one-on-one basis with VDOT officials and designers. Written comments can be submitted at the meeting or within ten days after the meeting date to Mr. Garrett W. Moore, P.E. Virginia Department of Transportation, 811 Commerce Road, Staunton, VA 24401-9029. Oral comments can be recorded at the meeting with the assistance of a court reporter.

The proposed project is located on Queen Street in the Town of Strasburg. The work involves replacing the bridge over Town Run and provides drainage improvements in the area. The project limits extend from South Massanutten Street to 0.086 mile west of this intersection.

Queen Street varies in width in the area leading to the bridge. On the bridge’s western end the road is 29 feet wide with a sidewalk on the north side and curb and gutter on both sides of the road. On the bridge’s eastern end the road is 19 feet wide and currently has no sidewalk or curb and gutter. The existing two-lane bridge is 22.5 feet wide and about 19 feet long, which makes it obsolete for today’s traffic and roadway standards.

The project will provide a new wider bridge, wider roadway, on-site parking, wider sidewalks with curb and gutter, and will improve drainage. The new bridge will be 19 feet long and have two 15-foot lanes. The approaches to the bridge will have curb and gutter.

The sidewalk on the north end of the bridge will be continuous from west to east. On the south end of the bridge, the sidewalk will extend from the bridge to the east. There will be a crosswalk on the east side of the bridge. The sidewalk in the project will be stamped to look like brick.

Also Queen Street on the eastern end of the bridge will be widened to include two 15-foot lanes with curb and gutter. The wider road will provide for on-street parking on the east side of the bridge.

Current project estimates include $420,302 for preliminary engineering, $127,400 for right of way and $1,086,861 for construction. The total estimated project cost is $1,634,563 with financing from both federal and state funds.

Approval of location and design plans by the Commonwealth Transportation Board is estimated for spring 2010. Right of way activities are estimated to begin in spring 2010. Advertisement for construction is planned for summer 2015 with completion in fall 2016.

Benefits from this project include improvements to Queen Street traffic flow and safety with a wider bridge and approaches will result from this project. The project provides better pedestrian access with a sidewalk extension and pedestrian crossing plus new on-street parking. Drainage in this portion of Strasburg will be improved. The aesthetics of Queen Street, a historically significant street in downtown Strasburg, will be enhanced with this project.