SUFFOLK, Va. — The overpass connecting Nansemond Parkway to Wilroy Road in Suffolk is now complete. News 3 has been following the project for more than a year after noticing Facebook posts like the ones below.
“What’s happening with Nansemond Parkway? Why is it saying an hour to get from downtown Suffolk to Northern Suffolk?” one user asked on Facebook.
“Nansemond Parkway feels like trying to leave Busch Gardens right now,” said another.
To help counter that traffic, the City of Suffolk decided to build an overpass over the railroad tracks at that intersection in hopes of easing congestion.
“With this new addition of the overpass, we are eliminating the need for any railroad stops so traffic can continue to flow even if the rail does come through,” said Courtney Aydlette, a civil engineer and project lead with the City of Suffolk.
In the video above, News 3 transportation reporter Conor Hollingsworth provides a timeline of the work that has been done over the past year.
“From a timeline standpoint, this project has a duration of two years. So we started back in August of 2023 and we’ll be following that timeline and wrapping up in August of 2025,” Aydlette told News 3.
The total project cost is about $29 million, with the bridge itself costing about $22 million. Aydlette said there’s still a little work to do around the overpass, including the construction of Nansemond Court — a cul-de-sac just south of the tracks — as well as some minor pavement replacement and signal activation.
Once that project is done, it’s right on to the next one. Starting Monday, July 28, Nansemond Parkway will close at the Nansemond Parkway Bridge, which sits next to Mack Benn Jr. Elementary School.
“The detour will last for about a year as they replace and renovate the support systems for that bridge,” Aydlette said.
A link to the project can be found here. The detour will include a combination of Progress Road, Wilroy Road and Portsmouth Boulevard.
For information about the SPSA interchange project — which causes congestion to build up on U.S. 58 most weekday mornings — click here.
