THORNBURG, Va. – A proposed racetrack touted as an economic boost to Spotsylvania County still needs state approval before it can be built.
The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors approved rezoning and special-use permits for the Dominion Speedway, but its proximity to an already busy but small Interstate 95 interchange in Thornburg requires approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The site is close to the Mudd Tavern Road entrance to the I-95 on-off ramps.
VDOT spokeswoman Kelly Hannon tells Fredericksburg.com the agency is required by law to grant access to the development since the county has rezoned the agricultural land. The question of where the access will be has yet to be determined.
Local residents appear a bit split on the speedway.
“They could build it somewhere where it’s not going to ruin the last bit of country we have left here,” says NASCAR fan Matt Pitts.
Traffic and noise are among the biggest complaints from some of the locals. But Jewel Carter doesn’t agree.
“We lived right next to a race track in Missouri. We were the closest to it and we didn’t have any problems,” Carter says, as she and a friend loaded groceries into a car at Thornburg Plaza just up the road from the proposed site.
Owner Steve Britt has been trying to put a new raceway in Spotsylvania County ever since he closed the previous Old Dominion Speedway in Prince William County last year, after 60 years of races.
The speedway would consist of an oval track for stock car racing, a road course and a drag strip. It would be built on 160 acres of land and cost between $10 million and $13 million.
Britt hopes to see the raceway open by July 2014.
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