The Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday asking the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to amend its design of the proposed roundabout at the U.S. Route 15/State Route 692 (Kingsville) intersection, restoring full access to the businesses located there.

An initial design of the roundabout included full access, but VDOT held a public hearing April 19 in which it presented an alternate design that Prince Edward County Administrator Wade Bartlett said was influenced by safety concerns.

But Bartlett said the alternate design “did not have an entrance going on the east side of the roundabout that would allow access (to the businesses) in that area. If you’re familiar with The Fishin’ Pig and that gas station, you know where it is now. There’s not one on the plan that was shown at the public hearing. That’s where all their deliveries are made of the trucks for both businesses. The only access from the southbound was a decidedly southern slant into the gas station.”

He indicated that about 80 percent of materials and goods are delivered from the north.

“(Those delivery trucks) would have to turn, they’d turn right up onto State Route 692, then they’d have to go down and hit Abilene Road, and then turn left, and turn left again on (U.S. Route) 15 and come back up and meander through — and that’s the best word I can use is ‘meander’ through — the parking lot in front of the gas pumps into that area for deliveries for both units,” Bartlett said. “It would also eliminate about 30 percent of the parking for The Fishin’ Pig and all.”

He noted that VDOT is well aware of the issues that the county has with the design, along with the business owners, the landowners and Hampden-Sydney College.

“Nobody agreed to that design,” he said. “The initial design that we saw … it has the full access that you can see between those two businesses.”

As The Herald previously reported, Trisha Wright and Robin Wright Vincent, property owners of The Fishin’ Pig and the Hampden-Sydney Citgo convenience store, also attended the April 19 public hearing and expressed concern about the potential effect of the roundabout on the properties and traffic.

Bartlett told the board of supervisors that VDOT staff assures “us that they will adjust their design, but we feel it prudent that we present this resolution to VDOT so that they are clear in our understanding of what it is that the business owners and the county would like.”

The resolution, which explains the history leading to its creation, reads as follows:

“Whereas, in September of 2015, the county of Prince Edward submitted an HB2 project for the U.S. 15/VA 692 intersection at Kingsville; and

Whereas, VDOT proposed a design solution that included a roundabout, which would improve traffic flow and help solve access management and safety issues at the intersection; and

Whereas, the initial VDOT roundabout design provided to the county in 2015 included full ingress/egress access, both northbound and southbound, for the businesses located on the eastern side of U.S. 15; and

Whereas, on April 19, 2018, VDOT held a design public hearing on the proposed U.S. 15/VA 692 intersection roundabout project at Kingsville on a plan that had substantially changed the ingress/egress for the business located on the eastern side of U.S. 15; and

Whereas, the county administrator has submitted written comments to VDOT regarding the design presented at the public hearing asking that full ingress/egress access be restored to the businesses located on the eastern side of U.S. 15; and

Whereas, the board of supervisors has complete confidence that VDOT will take the appropriate action to amend the design of the roundabout to ensure that full ingress/egress access from both the northbound and southbound lanes of U.S. 15, as well as VA 692, is provided to Tax Parcel #050 A 89 and Tax Parcel #050 A 90A, located on the eastern side of U.S. 15;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the board of supervisors of the county of Prince Edward hereby endorses moving forward with the roundabout design solution at the intersection of U.S. 15/VA 692 (Kingsville) with the amendments heretofore proposed by the county.”