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An expansive traffic study will soon be offering another opportunity for public comment, and we encourage local folks to look into the planned improvements and give their thoughts.

The Bowers Hill interchange is widely known as one of the more confusing and heavily traveled interchanges in the Hampton Roads area. Virtually everyone traveling into and out of Suffolk from Virginia Beach, Norfolk and parts of Chesapeake will go through this intersection. Only those coming from parts of Portsmouth and the Western Branch area of Chesapeake are likely to choose to use other routes.

As a result, the usefulness of the Bowers Hill interchange directly affects Suffolk’s ability to attract and retain residents and businesses, so having a good plan for the future at this interchange is in Suffolk’s best interests.

However, the study has, quite appropriately, encompassed more than just this interchange. It also incorporates Interstate 664 all the way north to College Drive, Route 58, Route 460 and more. This is important, because traffic conditions at one interchange can affect traffic conditions all along the corridors they feed into, as well as nearby surface roads.

There is a website, bowershillinterchange.com, where you can find more information on the study, as well as reading the story by reporter Jimmy LaRoue in today’s edition. Tentative public meetings are set for late January.

We encourage everyone to look into the plans and give their thoughts.