Fifth Street roundabout work planned for December

By Alicia Petska

Published: October 2, 2008

The city has amassed enough money to start work on the Fifth Street roundabout, the first major public revitalization project for that corridor since the completion of its master plan in 2006.

The roundabout, slated for the corner of Fifth and Federal streets, is the first phase of a large-scale redevelopment aimed at restoring the Fifth Street district, once a vibrant center of activity for the city’s black community.

Smaller changes, such as new signage and nicer parking lot landscaping, have been introduced since the adoption of the master plan, but the roundabout will mark the first dramatic transformation to the streetscape.

City officials say they now have enough cash on hand to see the project through to completion. A contractor was selected following a bidding process last month, and an environmental impact assessment is under way to satisfy federal regulations.

City Planner Tom Martin said the city hopes to begin construction sometime in December.

“I think this will be exciting,” Martin said. “Over the years, a lot of different people have put a lot of time and effort into this plan without losing vision, without losing hope.”

“We hope this will reward those who’ve devoted their time and effort to Fifth Street, and encourage others” to invest in the neighborhood, as well, he said.

The finished roundabout will span 120 feet in width, making it the largest structure of its kind in the city.

Lynchburg is currently home to just two small traffic circles, both built in recent years. One existing circle is part of the Wyndhurst development, while the other is in the Vista Acres neighborhood.

The city has reserved $889,200 for the Fifth Street roundabout, a combination of local money and federal grants received during both this year and last.

The utilities department also will install new water and sewer lines while the street is torn up. Those upgrades will be paid for separately from the utilities budget.

Total cost of all planned improvements in this first phase comes to $1.38 million. Future phases call for the construction of new, tree-lined sidewalks between Church Street and Park Avenue.

The city is abandoning one aspect of the redevelopment plan due to costs exceeding expectations.

The original plans call for all power lines along the targeted corridor to be buried underground. That aspect of the project turned out to be prohibitively expensive, officials said. Plans now call for consolidating all the overhead lines on one side of the street and raising the elevation.