VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A busy road is getting a major facelift.
Earlier this week, VDOT crews shifted traffic so they could get started on the improvement project on Laskin Road. The plan is to take away the feeder lanes and add more lanes for drivers and sidewalks and improve stormwater and drainage in the area.
“The landscaping, the easiness to get into our building will be amazing,” explained Freedom Surf owner Dave Shotton.
But right now, the construction is anything but amazing for Shotton.
On Tuesday, VDOT officials shut down a left turn lane and shifted some traffic towards the shoulder and the median.
He said his sales are struggling.
“Our business in the last two days has been down about 70 percent,” he explained.
Shotton said the turn lane is everything for his local business. He said it’s 50% of the traffic that comes in through the turn lane.
VDOT spokeswoman Nina Napolitano said she listened to two local business owners' concerns about access to their shops. She confirmed to 13News Now, engineers will bring back the left turn lane and access lane.
Napolitano said she realizes this is an important time of year for local businesses and VDOT wants to be a good neighbor.
She explained, “We want them to know that we are available. We have been listening to a lot of their concerns already, trying to respond to those and looking for different solutions as possible and whenever possible.”
VDOT officials expect the project to wrap up in 2023.
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