Goochland shifts traffic on Ashland Road for Rockville corridor work

Drivers using Ashland Road, Route 623, saw a new traffic pattern take hold in front of Luck Stone after 9 a.m. Tuesday, when Goochland County shifted traffic onto newly paved lanes and cleared the way for crews to begin building permanent medians. Flaggers were posted in the work zone, and the county told motorists to stay alert, reduce speed and watch for construction activity as the corridor work advanced.

The lane shift is part of the Rockville Opportunity Corridor, a 3.5-mile business development district in eastern Goochland County that the county says is meant to grow into a destination for business, innovation and community. The corridor already serves a dense stretch of industrial and commercial activity on the county’s eastern side, including about 200 existing businesses in the Ashland Road and I-64 area. County materials say the long-term goal is not just more development, but safer and smoother access for the people and freight moving through the area every day.

Goochland has tied the corridor work to a wider transportation package that includes new traffic lights, added entrance roads and turn lanes designed to cut congestion and improve safety. The county is working with the Virginia Department of Transportation on those plans and says the projects are being pursued through state, regional and federal funding pools. The broader Ashland Road and I-64 interchange improvements are planned to start in 2027 and would widen Ashland Road to four lanes around the interchange, while adding a second bridge next to the existing span over I-64.

The corridor already has major private investment on the ground. At 2022 Ashland Road, Goochland says a new Amazon facility is operating as an e-commerce fulfillment center serving Goochland, Richmond and surrounding areas. The frontage work there is set to widen Ashland Road at the entrance, build a facility entrance road, install a stoplight and relocate the Luck Stone entrance to line up with Project Rocky for safer access. Farther along the corridor, AXIAL Rockville 64 at 2200 Ashland Road is described by the county as a premier industrial development with two rear-load buildings totaling 335,000 square feet.

Luck Stone’s own footprint explains why the latest lane change matters so much on the ground. Goochland held a community meeting on May 22, 2024, on a Luck Companies application tied to 70.18 acres east of Ashland Road at 1950 Rockville Industrial Way, where the property is zoned Industrial, General and Agricultural, Limited. The conditional use permit sought overburden placement and ancillary stone processing operations, placing the new traffic pattern in the middle of an active industrial corridor. For residents and commuters, the immediate effect is slower travel and closer attention at the work zone; for the county, it is another step toward the larger road and access buildout now unfolding along Ashland Road.