Rio Corridor Plan

Wednesday, January 26th, 2022

Rio Corridor Plan Project Update and Community Questions

On Wednesday, October 13th, the Board of Supervisors hosted a Work Session to receive an update on the Rio Corridor Plan (view a recording of the Work Session). Since then, the team has been revising the draft Phase 1 plan, compiling Phase 2-centered background research, and planning additional community outreach.

Our project team has received some thoughtful questions about the project, and we thought it would be helpful to share this information with you. If you have additional questions, please share them with us! Email your questions to Project Lead David Benish.

Rio Corridor Plan

What is the status of Phase 1 of the Corridor Plan?

The project team has delivered the draft plan to County staff for initial review. We will provide a quick overview of the draft at the upcoming Places29 Rio Community Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting (details below), and share the draft with the public on Monday, January 31st.

What is the status of Phase 2 of the Corridor Plan?

The project team is now focusing on Phase 2. We presented initial background information and some questions to the Places29 Rio CAC at their December meeting and we are currently planning an in-person pop-up and online feedback tool for the general public. View the presentation. View the CAC Meeting recording. At the upcoming CAC meeting (details below), our project team will make a brief presentation that will include the initial analysis (issues and opportunities) of John Warner Parkway to Pen Park. Once the Phase 2 draft has been developed, both Phase 1 and 2 of the Corridor Plan will be forwarded together to the Board for final review and action.

Above is the general area of each phase. Image provided by Line + Grade

Will Rio Corridor Study work be completed before construction begins on Rio Point apartments?

We cannot know for sure when a developer will move forward with constructing a project, but both the submittal and approval of an Initial Site Development Plan (SDP) and a Final SDP still need to be completed before development can take place. Those review processes will take longer than the completion date for the Corridor Plan, so in all likelihood, the Corridor Plan will be completed before development starts.

The Rio Road/John Warner Parkway Roundabout

Will the location of the Rio/John Warner Pkwy roundabout be at the location proposed by VDOT? 

VDOT is in the beginning stages of their design work on the project, and they are working from the same concept/location that was funded through the Smartscale program. Once VDOT design work takes place it is possible that there may be some adjustments to the location – but that is unknown at this time. The County’s Corridor Plan is not recommending any change in the location of the VDOT funded roundabout. The Rio Corridor Plan will only highlight issues/pros & cons with the various options for informational purposes. 

Is there a projected start and completion date?  

The rough schedule is as follows: survey work is currently being started, which will run through the Summer of 2022. Preliminary engineering and right of way acquisition will likely run through Spring of 2025, and construction is anticipated to be complete in Fall or Winter of 2025. Learn more about project stages at the VDOT How a Road Gets Built webpage.

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