PETERSBURG, Va. -- Drivers who use University Boulevard near the Chesterfield County-Petersburg line will soon need to find an alternate way around town.
The Virginia Department of Transportation plans to close part of University Boulevard, near Virginia State University, to replace the aging bridge over the Appomattox Canal, which is adjacent to Campbell's Bridge. Closures for the eight-month project were expected to begin on May 3.
"We have our Ettrick bus that comes through here every 30 minutes," Darius Mason, with Petersburg Area Transit, said.
To re-route the bus, the normally 30-minute route will become an hour long due to the detour.
"We are going to go through downtown Petersburg, parts of the Colonial Heights to be able to get all of our citizens in the Ettrick area, VSU campus, a lot of the individuals of the Food Lion area, and with our carriage house residents," Mason said. “A little inconvenient, but we’ll be serving a lot more area in the downtown area.”
Due to the historic nature of the area, VDOT plans to insert a precast concrete box culvert inserted between the existing stone abutments in an effort to preserve them.
VDOT says the contractor will be installing a temporary pedestrian bridge to accommodate foot and bicycle traffic.
For more information on Petersburg Area Transit's new route, click here.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
EAT IT, VIRGINIA restaurant news and interviews
