Roundabouts around the corner for new James City government center
DePue Dr. and Longhill Rd. each carry over 16,000 cars every day and are both expected to carry 26,000 vehicles daily by 2055
James City County is working on plans to construct two roundabouts at its new government center, part of the broader Consolidated Government Center development on Longhill Road that broke ground on November 12, 2025. The project will affect Depue Drive, Longhill Road, and Ashbury Lane. Depue Drive and Longhill Road each currently carry 16,730 vehicle trips per day, projected to exceed 26,200 by 2055. Ashbury Lane carries 12,200 trips per day, projected to reach 19,700 by the same year. All three roads will require lane reconfiguration, pavement resurfacing or replacement, and new signage, according to the engineering drawings. The plans remain under review.
According to the county, the new government center will consolidate multiple departments into a single complex and include a new 25,000-square-foot branch of the Williamsburg Regional Library. The county cites a projected office space deficit of over 186,000 square feet by 2043 and claims consolidation would reduce travel times and increase convenience for citizens. According to the county’s FY27 proposed budget, the project has $149.1 million in planned construction costs for FY27 and FY28, split between the government center ($124 million) and the new library branch ($25.1 million), in addition to over $86 million in carryforward budgets from prior years covering early phases and site work.
The project has drawn significant community opposition. During public hearings on the county’s proposed budget, many residents facing sharp increases in real estate assessments urged the Board of Supervisors to defer the project, citing concerns about the county taking on debt at a difficult time for taxpayers.
Roundabout details
The decision to use roundabouts at the two DePue Drive intersections was informed by a Traffic Impact Analysis completed in March 2025. The study, which was originally submitted in September 2024 and revised following comments from VDOT and the county, analyzed traffic conditions at seven intersections in the vicinity of the government center site. It recommended roundabouts at both intersections. At Longhill Road and DePue Drive, it called for a dual-lane roundabout.
At DePue Drive and Ashbury Lane, three options were evaluated; a single-lane roundabout was recommended after the other two alternatives, an added right-turn lane and a directional median, were projected to leave side-street traffic with delays of up to five minutes or generate backups into adjacent intersections. The study noted that Ashbury Lane is transitioning to a private, county-maintained road and that roundabouts along that corridor fell outside the study’s scope.
According to the 30% engineering drawings, both roundabouts will feature a landscaped central island and a stamped concrete truck apron, a reinforced outer ring that allows large vehicles to navigate the tighter geometry. The islands measure approximately 57 feet in radius at the Ashbury Lane roundabout and roughly 51 to 54 feet at the Longhill Road roundabout.
The drawings also show new and extended shared-use paths along several road segments, new concrete sidewalks and ADA-compliant curb ramps at crosswalks, and solar-powered rectangular rapid-flashing beacons with passive pedestrian detection at crossings on both Ashbury Lane and DePue Drive. Existing bike lanes on Longhill Road and DePue Drive are affected, with some reconfiguration required.
Agency reviews and other TBD
Multiple county agencies have reviewed the conceptual plan and identified items that must be resolved before the project can advance. A construction timeline, phasing sequence, and traffic management plan during construction are not yet included in the submitted documents.
In an April 20, 2026 response, Principal Planner Tom Leininger identified planning issues related to right-of-way designations, property boundaries, lighting coordination, and construction staging that will need to be addressed in future submittals. The county’s fire department reviewed the plan on April 14, 2026 and raised no objections, but noted that the roundabouts must accommodate the department’s largest apparatus and that sign placement near turning areas will need to account for vehicle overhang.
The James City Service Authority completed its review on April 30, 2026, raising concerns about utility conflicts, water main access, fire hydrant relocations, and coordination with the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, whose approval is required before JCSA can give final sign-off. The Stormwater and Resource Protection Division completed its review on May 1, 2026, confirming that drainage and water quality needs will be handled through the government center’s existing wet pond, with several drainage and channel protection items still under discussion.
The writer used AI tools and official sources, including:
James City County Conceptual Plan Number: C-26-0017 - JCC Government Center Roundabouts
James City County FY2027-FY2028 Proposed Operating Budget (PDF)
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