The widening of Route 17 from four to six lanes at Gloucester Point was on the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission’s agenda at its Jan. 24 meeting in Saluda.

Gloucester County Senior Comprehensive Planner Carol Rizzio discussed the Gloucester County Route 17 Smart Scale Application Request. The initial estimate for this widening project is $34 million, Rizzio said.

The request is for the widening of Route 17 from four to six lanes from Tidemill Road to Guinea Road with a shared use path on the east side for biking and walking. The median would also be removed.

This project is a part of a multi-phase widening of Route 17 from Gloucester Point to the Court House. This has been identified as a regional priority project in the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization’s Long Range Transportation Plan.

“The project from Farmwood (Road) up to Guinea was all one project. Then they got funding through RSTP (the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rural Surface T...