Goochland sets 2027 construction target for Ashland Road, I-64 interchange

Goochland County is setting up the Ashland Road and Interstate 64 interchange as the project that will determine whether eastern Goochland can keep growing without choking its own traffic. County plans now point to 2027 construction for the long-promised diverging diamond, a redesign meant to move more cars safely through one of the county’s busiest corridors as development deepens around Route 623.

The county’s project page now lays out a more detailed schedule: request for qualifications in summer 2025, request for proposals in winter 2025, a design-build contract award in September 2026, and a fixed completion date of August 2029. The county lists the Central Virginia Transportation Authority, the Commonwealth Transportation Board and the Virginia Department of Transportation as funding partners. Even before ground is broken, the corridor has been treated as a priority, with county materials saying the Ashland Road and I-64 interchange is Goochland’s top transportation project.

The scope goes well beyond a single ramp change. The existing interchange would be converted into a four-lane diverging diamond interchange, the Bennington Road and Ashland Road intersection would be relocated, and the Hickory Haven Park and Ride lot would also move. The plan includes widening Ashland Road, building new bridge work, rehabilitating the existing bridge, widening and reconstructing four ramps, and adding drainage, stormwater management, traffic signals and lighting.

That scale reflects the county’s broader bet on the Rockville Opportunity Corridor, the 3.5-mile Ashland Road stretch in eastern Goochland that county leaders describe as a growing business development district and a destination for business, innovation and community. Earlier county materials said the diverging diamond was chosen because it would satisfy traffic needs for many years into the future, and that the benefits would extend beyond Goochland into Hanover County and Henrico County, along with about 200 existing businesses in the corridor.

Public review has already been part of the process. VDOT scheduled a location-and-design hearing for July 22, 2025, at Salem Baptist Church, and the county has also described temporary relief before the full project begins, including a stop light at the eastbound I-64 ramp and an additional lane on the westbound I-64 ramp. In another sign of how fast the corridor is changing, Goochland is also planning to widen Ashland Road from the interchange north to the Amazon facility, taking it from two lanes to four.