Chesterfield board OKs bond issuance to fund Powhite extension, other road projects

The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors recently voted to issue up to $350 million in transportation bonds to fund the Powhite Parkway extension, shown in yellow, and other projects such as the creation of a road network at the Upper Magnolia site, outlined in red. (BizSense file)

The effort to line up funding for the long-planned Powhite Parkway extension in western Chesterfield County took another step forward this month.

The county Board of Supervisors in early May approved the issuance of up to $350 million in bonds for transportation projects, among them the first phase of the Powhite extension.

The initial phase of the extension would lengthen the parkway by 2.25 miles to Woolridge Road from its current terminus near its interchange with Route 288. That first stage also involves construction of an interchange at Charter Colony Parkway and overpasses on Watermill and Brandermill parkways.

County officials previously estimated the first phase of the project to cost $170 million, which would be covered by the bonds and other funding sources.

Matt Harris

The overall extension project has been estimated to cost $700 million, with an ultimate plan to extend the Powhite Parkway to Hull Street Road.

Chesterfield is pursuing the parkway extension, which has been on the county’s thoroughfare plan since the late 1980s, to improve vehicular connectivity and decrease traffic congestion in the rapidly growing western area of the county, said Bill Arel, senior engineer at the Chesterfield Department of Transportation.

The extension’s first leg is still in its design phase, and Arel estimated last week that stage of the project is roughly 30% to 40% completed. He said a construction contract for the project is planned to be awarded in 2025.

Deputy County Administrator Matt Harris said a contractor bid package for the Powhite project could be finalized in six to 12 months.

County supervisors voted to approve the bonds issuance in early May, and the county plans to sell the bonds in June.

Harris anticipated that the county will actually seek to sell $300 million in bonds for the transportation projects, in line with plans unveiled earlier this year as part of the county’s recently approved fiscal year 2025 budget. The additional $50 million in bonds is intended to provide flexibility in securing the financing for the projects.

“It just gives us some leeway depending on how the actual transaction is structured. We might be in excess of $300 million if it’s got a premium associated with it,” Harris said in an interview with BizSense.

Other projects to receive funding through the bond sale include extensions of Center Pointe Parkway (from its current end at Tomahawk Creek Road to a new intersection with Old Hundred Road), Woolridge Road (from Route 360 to Old Hundred Road) and Nash Road (from Beach Road to Route 10).

Also anticipated to receive bond proceeds are the widening of Woolridge between Genito and Lacoc roads, construction of a road network to serve a new high school and other civic facilities planned for Upper Magnolia Green, and drainage improvements on Otterdale Road.

Bond sale proceeds would finance the projects and Chesterfield plans to pay off the municipal bonds, which are essentially loans, using the county’s share of tax revenue from the Central Virginia Transportation Authority.

The authority, created in 2020, finances regional transportation projects using sales and fuel tax proceeds, half of which is given annually to localities in the region.

Chesterfield brings in about $30 million annually from its CVTA allocation, according to a county news release.

The bonds are legally restricted to transportation projects, and 85% of the proceeds need to be spent within three years, Harris said.

The financing approach is designed to be flexible to provide funding as needed should unanticipated projects crop up or currently planned projects get delayed. Therefore, it’s difficult to say precisely what road projects ultimately will be funded, outside of plans to prioritize the Powhite and Upper Magnolia projects, Harris said.

“The concept for the rest of it is that we have cash funding on hand to accelerate as many projects as possible,” Harris said. “We’ve got no shortage of projects. What it will look like exactly in three years is hard to say, other than those first big two.”

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