Studies: Route 151 Corridor Study - Nelson County

Take the Route 151 Corridor MetroQuest Survey through April 10th here: https://metroquestsurvey.com/vz37

Study Background and Scope

The Route 151 Corridor Study evaluated the operations and safety of approximately 14 miles of the Route 151 corridor in Nelson County.  The study area was bounded by the intersections of Route 151/Route 664 (Beech Grove Road) in the South and Route 151/US 250 in the North.  

For most of its length, Route 151 is a rural two-lane north-south Minor Arterial highway that provides residents with access to jobs, schools, recreation and shopping. Due to the close proximity of the George Washington National Forest and Wintergreen Resort, it also serves as an important tourist route, Scenic Virginia Byway, and designated bicycle route. In addition, bus service links the urbanized areas in the corridor. 

Although Nelson County is a sparsely populated rural community, it has experienced steady population growth and an increase in the number of vehicles within the Route 151 corridor. For more than a decade the corridor has been a viable shortcut for many commercial trucks traveling between I-64 and US Route 29, and this use has contributed to the increase in traffic on the corridor. 

The study had three components: operations, safety and access management/multimodal. Intersection counts and operational analysis were performed at a number of intersections to identify potential improvements to enhance operations. 

Given the crash history of the corridor, safety is a critical consideration of the study. Using current crash data, a field visit will be conducted to 13 intersections to identify contributing factors to crashes with a goal of identifying potential mitigation measures. 

Access management techniques and multimodal (buses and cyclists) considerations were investigated as short-/mid- and long-term improvements are developed and analyzed. 

The Intersections

The following intersections were visited as part of this study.  The Route 151 intersection with:

• Route 664 (Beech Grove Road)
• Route 627 (Spruce Creek Lane)
• Route 634 (Adial Road)
• Route 613 (Rodes Farm Road)
• Route 6 (River Road)
• Route 635 (Old Rockfish Lane)
• Route 635 (Greenfield Road) 
• Route 729 (Creek Road-at store/gas station)
• Route 784 (Bland Wade Lane)
• Route 760 (Sunrise Drive)
• Route 638 S (Avon Road)
• Route 6 (Afton Mountain Road)/Route 638 N (Avon Road) and 
• US Route 250 (Rockfish Gap Turnpike)

Final Report 

Supplemental materials:

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Benefits 

   This study identifies opportunities for improvements along the Route 151, including those to address safety and increased traffic.