A long-awaited extension of Nike Park Road is set to break ground this month, the Virginia Department of Transportation said in a news release.

Plans to extend the two-lane road so that it connects directly to Carrollton Boulevard have been in the works since 2014. VDOT recently awarded an $8.3 million contract to Branscome, a Williamsburg-based contractor, to build the 0.9-mile two-lane connector roadway that will extend Nike Park from Reynolds Drive to the highway.

Drivers traveling between Smithfield and Carrollton Boulevard currently have two options for reaching Carrollton. More than 6,000 motorists daily, according to VDOT’s average daily traffic estimates from 2022, take a five-mile route by way of Battery Park, Nike Park, Titus Creek and Smiths Neck roads. Another 22,000-plus take an alternative 5-mile route by way of Benns Church, Brewers Neck and Carrollton boulevards, all four-lane highways.

“I’m hopeful that it will create some of the congestion relief and improve our commutes as VDOT has described,” said Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors Chairman Joel Acree.

The project, in addition to extending the road, will entail adding a traffic signal and additional turn lanes at its new Route 17 intersection, located just over a quarter-mile south of the Nest on 17 apartments.

Some of the work has already begun.

“On July 30, the contractor for the Nike Park Extension Project started initial on-site work to survey and mark the project limits, installed construction sign foundations, and began preliminary mobilization activities, such as supply ordering and equipment staging, most of which are not visible from the existing roads,” said VDOT spokeswoman Kelly Alvord. “The contractor is still finalizing their anticipated schedule beyond these early mobilization activities.”

According to VDOT’s news release, the work will also entail extending the parallel, 10-foot-wide bicycle and pedestrian trail Isle of Wight County opened in 2021, currently spanning 3.1 miles down Nike Park and Battery Park roads.

“The multi-use path will run parallel alongside the southern side of the newly constructed road between Reynolds Drive and Carrollton Boulevard (Route 17) and tie into the existing expanded shoulder on Route 17 south,” Alvord said. “The multi-use path currently alongside portions of Nike Park Road north of the project area will be unchanged. The multi-use path built as part of this project will end at the intersection of Reynolds Drive.”

The Nike Park Road extension is funded through VDOT’s six-year improvement plan and the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization at $19.7 million, which includes its planning and construction phases. Isle of Wight County collaborated with VDOT to handle right-of-way acquisitions for the project last year.

“It is an investment by VDOT into our community, which is not something we see every day,” Acree said.

According to VDOT, drivers may encounter intermittent overnight, single-lane closures on Carrollton Boulevard and Reynolds Drive for intersection work through summer 2026, when the project is estimated to be complete.