VDOT Plans Roundabout, New Connector Road Along Goochland's Hockett Road

A $19.4 million redesign of western Goochland's Hockett Road corridor is advancing through VDOT's design phase, with plans to build a new two-lane connector road and a roundabout at Holly Lane that would reshape how drivers move between Route 623 and Broad Street.

The project would construct a new two-lane connector road with a raised concrete median and left-turn lane, linking Hockett Road to Ashland Road at its intersection with Broad Street, with a roundabout built at the intersection of Hockett Road and Holly Lane. VDOT says the improvements will enhance safety and traffic flow by installing the roundabout north of the connector road and Holly Lane junction, creating a new intersection at Hockett and Holly Lane, adding a leg to the existing signalized intersection at Ashland Road and Broad Street, and installing a sidewalk along one side of the proposed connector road.

According to a flyer distributed at the January 2026 public meeting, the estimated cost of the project is $19,403,631, broken down as $2,013,694 for engineering, $5,653,238 for right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation, and $11,736,699 for construction. VDOT's project page, last updated March 20, 2026, lists the rounded figure as $19.4 million. With project completion now anticipated for spring 2031, the final cost will likely increase; VDOT's own flyer notes that "this project is in the early design phase" and that "costs are subject to change," adding that the project will be financed using a combination of federal and state funds.

On January 13, 2026, VDOT held a design public hearing for the project at Dover Baptist Church in Manakin Sabot, 365 days after a similar location public hearing at the same venue in January 2025. Approximately 65 people showed up at Dover Baptist Church for the January 2025 session to chat with VDOT personnel and examine maps of the proposed road.

The design unveiled at the 2026 meeting shows a roundabout near the entrance to the emergency veterinary clinic that would move traffic either north-south on Hockett or east-west on the connector road. Officials said that the more northerly location for the roundabout removes wetland complications from the project and places it farther from the Hickory Hill neighborhood. Unlike early versions of the project, the traffic signal at Hockett and Broad that allows left turns and through traffic will not change.

Asked why the project shows sidewalks on only one side of the proposed road, a VDOT official explained that the agency is "all in" on multi-modal transportation, which requires sidewalks. At least one resident was skeptical anyone would use the proposed sidewalk, pointing to the $7 million cost of roughly a half-mile of sidewalk in Courthouse Village as a cautionary example.

Not all attendees have been persuaded the roundabout is the right solution. One commenter posted publicly that VDOT representatives at the January 2025 meeting "were seemingly prepared for questions but not for answers," adding: "In my opinion there is no need for a roundabout in this area. Extend Hockett Road to the Ashland Broad Street stop light and call it done. The current section of Hockett from Broad Street south to the Veterinary Hospital could have a 'T' intersection into the Hockett Road Extension or become a dead end with a cul-de-sac."

Another commenter raised concerns about the project's coordination with a separate proposed diverging diamond interchange at Ashland Road and I-64, arguing that "VDOT continues to have these meetings miles away from the project location" and that the roundabout location was originally suggested by county staff who "are no longer with the County," leaving VDOT without a county counterpart to propose alternatives.

The notion of connecting Ashland and Hockett Roads through the parcel of vacant land on the south side of Broad Street has been on the local road planning radar since at least 2013. The new road could make the approximately 28-acre parcel on the south side of Broad at Ashland Road, currently in agricultural use, more attractive to economic development in Centerville Village.

VDOT's project manager is Tom Kendrick, reachable at thomas.kendrick@vdot.virginia.gov. The project carries UPC 105733 and state project ID 0623-037-749. Written comments can also be submitted to Goochland County at 1800 Sandy Hook Road, Goochland, VA 23063, or by phone at 804-556-5800 during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.