Reservoir and MLK Intersection Reconfigured

7/18/2018

Increased population in Harrisonburg means an increase in traffic. In 2006, Harrisonburg City began to study the commute along Reservoir Street to help determine what improvements could be made to increase the efficiency of travel and decrease traffic jams and commute times.

In 2007, the study concluded the need to widen the road to five lanes from the south end of the city limits to University Boulevard. Over the following seven years, approvals were made to the plan and the contract was awarded to A&J Development and Excavating (Mt. Crawford, VA) for $10,139,986.49. In January of 2014, construction began with the relocation of utilities. Reservoir Street is no longer a two lane road: from the city limits to Neff Avenue is a five lane roadway and there are two lanes of traffic in opposite directions with a center median. On both sides of the road, there is a bike lane and a curb for pedestrian commute. From Neff Avenue to University Boulevard the roadway design is very similar, except the center median is used as a turning lane and it does not include the bike lane on either side of the roadway. The completion of the project was December 2017.

July 2018, the project to reconfigure the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard (previously known as Cantrell Avenue) and Reservoir street began. The major change will be on Reservoir Street at the intersection where two left turn lanes to the northbound entrance will be added. Additionally, one left lane will be added to the southbound entrance. Along with the southbound entrance lane, there will a lane prohibiting traffic (marked by painted chevrons) to indicate that there is not a receiving lane on the other side of the intersection. There is not a completion date for the MLK-Reservoir Street as of yet.