Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles offering details on the U.S. Route 460/East Third Street Interchange that remains incomplete.

The U.S. Route 460/East Third Street Interchange is a project that, if completed, could offer important improvements to the county and the Town of Farmville with regard to public safety, traffic congestion and economic development, the latter of which could impact the entire region.

This article will focus on giving readers a brief overview of what the interchange is, where it would be located, why it has not been completed and how it would benefit the area in correspondence to the categories listed above.

When heading into Prince Edward County from the east, the prominent path is U.S. Route 460. To enter Farmville along that path, shortly after passing Crossroads Services on the right, one takes an exit onto U.S. Route 460 Business West, a road that becomes known as East Third Street as one travels into town.

But what if a person traveling on U.S. Route 460 Business West wanted quick access to places further west, like Lynchburg? Presently they would have to drive through downtown Farmville before finding any such access point.

A completed U.S. Route 460/East Third Street Interchange would create access from U.S. Route 460 Business West to a direct pathway to Lynchburg where none exists right now.

And what if someone, perhaps a hungry traveler or a truck driver, is heading east from Lynchburg and would like convenient, direct access to their drop-off point at a business on East Third Street or to a restaurant on or just off East Third Street? Presently they would have to do a U-turn on U.S. Route 460 across from Crossroads Services, possibly crossing multiple lanes of 60-mile-per-hour traffic just to reach the turn lane.

A completed U.S. Route 460/East Third Street Interchange would eliminate the need to make a U-turn and would instead create near Crossroads Services access to a direct pathway to East Third Street where none exists right now.

A resolution adopted by the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors in support of completing the interchange offers a brief history regarding the project and a summary of its significance.

The document states that “the current interchange does not provide westbound access from Business 460 to U.S. 460 or eastbound access from U.S. 460 to Business 460.” It adds that “this limited access has negatively impacted the development of a major commercial corridor in the Town of Farmville,” noting that “the limited access forces heavy trucks to travel through residential communities or through the middle of the Town of Farmville on a two-lane road.”

The Town of Farmville resolution highlighted that, indeed, “motorists are currently performing U-turns on U.S. 460 or driving through the Town of Farmville to head westbound on U.S. 460.”

Farmville 701 District Supervisor and Board Chairman Jim Wilck has made it a personal project of his to push a completed interchange toward reality.

“I’ve had pretty good luck with personal projects in the past,” he said.

He provided insight into why the interchange remains incomplete, noting that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has only so much money it can award to different projects, so it designed a system.

“You fill out an application, and you check all of the boxes and the blanks and so forth and turn that in, and they use that to determine who gets money and who doesn’t get money,” Wilck said.

The system includes points that are either awarded or not awarded to a project based on various factors.

“Well, one of the things you get points for is economic development, and that’s 40 to 45 percent of the thing,” Wilck said. Referring to a previous application submitted for the project that preceded his involvement, he added, “We got zero on that (economic factors) category because they failed to list all the economic development. They didn’t list any.”

Wilck has been working busily to compile data for the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board and VDOT that is relevant to three primary categories: public safety, economic factors and traffic congestion.

“Those are the three things that they’ll consider,” he said.

He has prepared a document that offers brief summaries of what he has learned with regard to each category.

For public safety, Wilck wrote, “EMS and fire department response times would be enhanced. Second- and third-responding fire departments would be greatly enhanced. Large trucks coming from the south and west would not be forced down Main Street through residential areas and by campus dorms whose students have to cross the street.”

For economic factors, Wilck noted, “The two heaviest commercial streets in Farmville are Main Street and Third Street. Third Street has the most available vacant land for commercial development and has developers ready to develop East Third Street but not until traffic flows and ease of access justify it by the addition of U.S. 460 ramps. Those developments will foster other growth.”

For traffic congestion, Wilck wrote, “Large dump trucks weighing up to 84,000 pounds and loaded concrete trucks weighing 80,000 pounds and larger semis, as well, are forced down Main Street and create traffic congestion particularly at Longwood pedestrian crossings and the two-lane portions of Main Street. To get to East Third Street, they must make a right turn from a two-lane Main Street onto East Third, and you will regularly see cars, and sometimes the trucks, having to back up in traffic to allow the trucks to make that tight turn. This is the most congested intersection in Farmville.”

Wilck has gathered resolutions and letters of support for completion of the interchange from a wide variety of important sources. These sources include the county, the Town of Farmville, Del. James E. Edmunds II, prominent businessman Ronald E. Dowdy, Prince Edward Volunteer Rescue Squad Inc., Farmville Fire Department, Dominion Energy, Taylor-Forbes Equipment Co., J.R. Tharpe Trucking Co. Inc., W.C. Newman Company Inc., Management Services Corporation, Creative Electrical Contractors Inc., Luck Stone Corporation, Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce and Farmville Downtown Partnership.