Clay Street extension complete

Smithfield’s Town Council voted unanimously on July 1 to accept the extension of Clay Street as a town-maintained road.

The council sold 1.5 acres of town-owned land at Washington and James streets in 2021 to developer Joseph Luter IV for a proposed eight-home subdivision that included the planned extension of the formerly dead-end Clay Street off Washington to connect to James.

“We have gone through the final walkthrough last Tuesday and identified just a couple items that the developer needed to fix, and we’re ready to go ahead and move forward,” Smithfield Community Development and Planning Director Tammie Clary told the Town Council at its June 24 committee meetings.

Luter IV said there’s no concrete timeline for breaking ground on the houses. Work was briefly paused last fall when contractors working for Luter requested to withdraw dwelling applications for three addresses associated with the development.

Accepting the 24-foot-wide, two-lane extended roadway by resolution is the first step in qualifying the road for the Virginia Department of Transportation’s municipal assistance payment program, which provides the town with state funding to maintain its roads.

“Personally I’m excited about this; I’m sure that the residents on Clay Street appreciate it as well,” said Vice Mayor Valerie Butler at the committee meetings.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8:47 a.m. on July 2.