After public outcry, major road project planned near Suffolk warehouse complex

After public outcry over a massive warehouse complex being built not far from downtown Suffolk, city leaders are planning a major road project that they say will mitigate residents’ traffic concerns.

The city plans to improve a section of Route 460 as part of a $86.8 million road project. City leaders say it will increase capacity on a major roadway near the planned 10 building, 5-million-square-foot Port 460 warehouse complex. The road project will get $30.1 million from the state’s Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund.

“This significant allocation of Transportation Partnership Opportunity Funds by the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board provides a rare opportunity to address a projected traffic mitigation concern before it becomes a major issue,” said Suffolk Mayor Mike Duman in a July 16 announcement.

The project would widen a 2.3-mile section of Route 460, from the Route 58 bypass to Lake Prince Drive, as well as redesign the Route 460 and 58 interchange.

The roadway project follows public criticism of the huge warehouse development , which is planned near the interchange. After a 2022 City Council vote to rezone the property to allow the development, Duman told The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press about 41% of the complaints revolved around its impact on traffic.

Some community residents mobilized a local opposition group to the warehouse, called Citizens Voice, and filed an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to stop the development.

Group spokesperson and Suffolk resident Denise Murden said they were happy the roadway project was being funded.

“If the project is going to go there, it’s absolutely essential,” Murden said.

Beyond the state funding, the project has also received $6.6 million from Matan, the developer who will build the warehouse project, $1 million from the Port of Virginia, and $1 million from the city of Suffolk, Deputy City Manager Kevin Hughes said in an email.

With the project about halfway funded, Hughes said the city plans to fund the remainder locally while applying for additional state and federal grant money.

Hughes said city officials hope to begin construction in late 2026. The first Port 460 building is scheduled to be completed by the third quarter of 2025, according to the project website.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com