Smithfield’s Town Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of right-turn-only access from Route 10 into the 2023-approved Grange at 10Main mixed-use development slated for the western edge of the town’s historic district.

The resolution, adopted Sept. 3, requests that Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board grant a “limited access control change.”

The Route 10 Bypass, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation, was constructed as a limited access highway, meaning it was designed for through traffic. Any break in the traffic flow to accommodate a tapered turn lane like the one proposed for the Grange must be approved by the CTB, which can only happen if the locality, rather than the developer, passes a formal resolution supporting it.

Per the adopted resolution, the town “will be absolved from any financial responsibility” for the limited access control change.

“The Grange developer will dedicate any necessary right of way, and all preliminary engineering and construction costs related to the LACC,” the resolution states.

A tapered right-turn lane from Route 10 leading into the 267-home Grange development’s residential phase was part of the conceptual plan and rezoning application the Town Council approved last year.

Grange developer Joseph Luter IV had originally requested full access to the development from Route 10, but this was “discouraged” at the state level due to Route 10’s limited access design, VDOT spokesman Tim Kelley told The Smithfield Times last year.

An Oct. 31, 2023, VDOT letter had estimated the development’s residential and commercial phases would collectively add roughly 4,700 daily vehicular trips spread across the site’s access points from Main Street, Grace Street, Cary Street and Route 10.

A 2022 traffic study based on earlier plans for the Grange that had called for up to 304 residential units had estimated 55% to 65% of inbound traffic would access the Grange directly from Route 10 using the proposed turn lane.