YORKTOWN, Va. — The Colonial Parkway has been around since the 1950s, connecting Yorktown, Williamsburg and Jamestown with a scenic drive. But with aging roads and bridges, it was time to invest money—$123 million—to revamp the parkway.
“It’s just an amazing path that winds itself through the history of the peninsula here,” said National Park Service facility manager Matt Henderson.
Construction began in the 1930s and lasted through the 1950s, with the Colonial Parkway officially opening in its entirety in 1957.
Since then, a few improvement projects have been completed, but none as large as the current undertaking by the National Park Service.
Henderson said that having the funding from the Great American Outdoors Act was vital.
“It’s important because we want to increase the safety along the roadway, we want to increase visitors' enjoyment in the park, and accessibility to the National Park Services sites on the Colonial Parkway,” said Henderson.
The funding will go toward fixing around 10 miles of the parkway, including improvements to 80% of the roads, several bridges and tunnels, signage, shoulders and drainage.
The parkway will be closed in sections over the next three years, allowing visitors to still enjoy the Historic Triangle, albeit with some detours.
“The parkway is just an amazing asset that we have here, the historic nature of the exposed aggregate concrete, it’s supposed to be reminiscent of a dirt road, connecting Jamestown, the first English settlement in America, to Yorktown, where basically, our country won its independence,” said Henderson.
The work is expected to be complete by our nation's semi quincentennial anniversary in 2026. For more information on closures and detours, click here.
