Frontier Drive Safety, Operations, and Multimodal Corridor Study
Frontier Drive is the primary connection between the US 11 (Lee Highway) and Barterbrook Road interchange and Richmond Avenue (US 250), crossing the boundary between the City of Staunton and Augusta County. The corridor serves a rapidly changing area, with substantial residential and commercial development approved or under construction on both sides of the city-county line, including the Vista Ridge development in Augusta County and the redevelopment of the former Valley Mall property in Staunton.
The Frontier Drive Safety, Operations, and Multimodal Corridor Study evaluates current and future conditions along the corridor and develops recommendations to improve safety, manage access, address traffic operations, and strengthen pedestrian, bicycle, and transit connections. Rather than analyzing individual intersections in isolation, the study divides Frontier Drive into a series of corridor profiles so that each segment is evaluated for the improvements best suited to it.
The study includes the following:
- Existing conditions analysis, including crash history, traffic operations, corridor access points, and an inventory of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities
- Traffic forecasting to a 2050 design year, accounting for approved and planned development along the corridor
- Segment-by-segment evaluation of the corridor between US 11 and Richmond Avenue (US 250)
- Development and screening of improvement alternatives at the corridor’s priority locations
- Pedestrian, bicycle, greenway, and transit connectivity recommendations that account for the corridor’s topographic constraints
- Conceptual layouts, planning-level cost estimates, and a funding and implementation strategy to position recommendations for SMART SCALE and other funding programs
- Public engagement, including a public open house once improvement alternatives have been developed
The SAWMPO is conducting the study in partnership with the City of Staunton, Augusta County, the Virginia Department of Transportation, and BRITE Transit. The study kicked off in August 2026 and is anticipated to be complete in 2027.
