Powhite Parkway Is Finally Coming to Moseley, and It's Being Built From Both Ends at Once

If Chesterfield has had the Powhite Parkway Extension on its thoroughfare plan since the late 1980s, why is the construction already under way around Moseley mostly not the parkway? The equipment at Woolridge and Old Hundred, the detour on Duval Road and the bridge going in over Swift Creek each belong to a separate contract with its own budget and finish date. The 2.25-mile parkway segment that carries the Powhite name does not have a construction contractor yet.

For anyone who drives Hull Street Road every day, that order is the useful part. The connector roads around the parkway are scheduled to open in 2027 and 2028. The full 9-mile parkway is slated for 2034. So the first real change to a Moseley commute comes from the side roads.

A Dotted Line Turned Into a Package of Contracts

At the Aug. 26 Board of Supervisors meeting, Transportation Director Chessa Walker summed up the county's approach in one line.

"We're making good progress from the north and from the south."

The north end is a $245 million package of four projects: Powhite Phase I, the Woolridge Road Extension, the Center Pointe Parkway Extension, and a two-to-four-lane widening of an existing section of Woolridge Road. All four are fully funded and scheduled to be finished by 2029. The county's September 8 update says the Woolridge and Center Pointe extensions will let more drivers reach Route 288 and Powhite Parkway "without having to use Hull Street Road."

The south end runs through the area around West Ridge High School, which is under construction at 17500 Duval Road and slated to open in August 2027. As of September 2026, the county had secured almost $300 million of the $565 million needed for the full 9.2-mile extension. That gap is part of why the work is arriving in pieces.

Which Piece You Notice Depends on Which Road You Drive

Duval Road and Westerleigh Parkway

This is the one area where part of the new network is already open. The northern section of the North-South Collector, including the Westerleigh Parkway extension, has opened to traffic, according to Nathan Mathis, a principal engineer with the county transportation department, as reported by Richmond BizSense in July. The full project includes a four-lane road with a bridge over Horsepen Creek, a widening of Duval to four lanes, a roundabout where the new road meets Duval at John Thomas Way, and shared-use paths. Shirley Contracting holds the $43 million construction contract. The total project cost is about $60 million, and completion is expected in August 2027.

The Duval Road detour is still in place this fall. It closes about three-quarters of a mile of Duval, running west from the new Otterdale/Duval roundabout toward Skinquarter Road. Property access is maintained, and the detour is expected to last until spring 2027. The county's own Duval Road Reconstruction page still shows a schedule ending September 2026. The project's update site has the more current spring 2027 date.

Woolridge Road at Old Hundred Road

This is the most visible site right now. VPM News photographed crews there on Sept. 15. The Woolridge Road Extension runs about 1.25 miles from Route 288 to Old Hundred Road. It will have four lanes, a signal at Route 288, twin bridges, a shared-use path and a sidewalk. Wagman, the contractor, lists it as a $42 million project and expects completion in summer 2028. The two sources give different start dates. The county project page says construction began in December 2025, and Wagman says May 2026.

The intersection itself will become what officials call a "hybrid" roundabout. Woolridge will have two lanes in each direction through it, and Old Hundred will have one lane each way. The county expects a short 14-day closure of existing Woolridge Road at Old Hundred at some point during construction, and says Old Hundred will stay open east to west the whole time. No date for that closure has been posted.

Walker told VPM that traffic is already backing up around the group of neighborhoods known as "the Foxes": Foxcroft, Foxfield, Foxfire, Fox Creek and Wynwood at Fox Creek. She also said land west of Otterdale Road is zoned for a few thousand more homes. With the work complete, she said, "we will be able to handle existing volume plus the projected volume."

Bailey Bridge Road and Brad McNeer Parkway

The Bailey Bridge Connector is a $28.5 million project between Brad McNeer Parkway and Bailey Bridge Road. The two-lane road includes roundabouts at both ends, a bridge over Swift Creek and a shared-use path. Construction began in fall 2025, and the county expects it to be finished by summer 2028. The county says the connector will let residents who live south of Hull Street Road skip the Route 288/360 interchange during their morning and evening commutes. The project page, last updated Sept. 28, 2026, still lists traffic impacts as "To be determined."

The Order Things Are Scheduled to Finish

Here are the projects in the order they are scheduled to finish:

1. Westerleigh Parkway extension: already open, as the northern section of the North-South Collector.
2. Duval Road detour: expected to end in spring 2027.
3. North-South Collector and four-lane Duval: August 2027.
4. Woolridge Road Extension, Route 288 to Old Hundred: summer 2028.
5. Bailey Bridge Connector: summer 2028.
6. Powhite Phase I, from the current terminus to Woolridge: 2029.
7. Western Area Arterial Collector, the Hull Street to Westerleigh segment: 2031.
8. Full Powhite Parkway Extension to Hull Street Road: 2034.

The first five items change daily routes around Hull Street. The last three are the parkway itself, and none of them is under construction yet.

The Parkway Segment Still Has Steps Before Construction

Phase I is the 2.25-mile, four-lane piece from the parkway's current end to Woolridge Road. It includes a Watermill Parkway overpass, a bridge over Tomahawk Creek, and a high-capacity "displaced left turn" intersection at Woolridge. It is budgeted at $150 million: $123 million from a June 2024 bond issuance and $27 million from the Central Virginia Transportation Authority. In early September, the county planned to request proposals within weeks and award a contract by the end of the year, according to Richmond BizSense. Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2026 or in early 2027.

The Board's Sept. 23 agenda included an item to set an Oct. 28 public hearing on using eminent domain for Phase I. As of early October, public sources did not confirm whether the contract has gone out to bid or been awarded.

The south end is moving along a separate track. The segment between Westerleigh Parkway and Hull Street Road is also known as the Western Area Arterial Collector. It is expected to cost $165 million and to go to bid on about the same schedule, with construction starting this winter. The county has secured $45 million from Virginia Economic Development Partnership programs and $5 million in federal funds for it, and the segment is slated to finish in 2031. It will also serve the planned Upper Magnolia Green technology park site.

A few details about the finished road:

• Tolls: the extension will not be tolled.
• Access points: Woolridge, Genito Road, Duval Road, Magnolia Green Parkway and Hull Street. Westerleigh Parkway access is not currently planned.
• Lanes: Phase II, from Woolridge to Route 360, will open with two lanes. The ground for a third and fourth lane will be graded during construction so a later widening costs less.
• Where it ends: near Grange Hall Elementary School and the Richmond Metro Zoo on Hull Street Road.

Why the Connectors Came First

Walker explains the order as building in backup routes. "If you have a bad storm and trees fall, or there's some reason to shut down a road for maintenance, or you have some emergency, you have other ways for people to move around," she told VPM. The Woolridge extension, Center Pointe and the Bailey Bridge Connector each give drivers another way to reach Route 288 that avoids Hull Street or the 288/360 interchange. The county describes the Woolridge and Center Pointe connections in the same terms, as "much-needed redundancy."

Kevin Carroll, the Matoaca District supervisor and Board vice chair, said of the package: "These projects are really going to help move the traffic load in that part of the county." For a Moseley driver, the first new routes are on the 2027 and 2028 dates in the list above. The parkway's own Phase I to Woolridge, which will connect to the new Woolridge extension, is scheduled to open in 2029.

At Pretty Properties, we track projects like these because a road scheduled to open in 2028 can change how a street feels long before the ribbon-cutting. If you're in Moseley and wondering how the Woolridge, Duval or Bailey Bridge work affects your home's value, request a free home valuation and we'll go over it with you.