Roads and schools are the center of discussion Thursday as Lynchburg hosts an informational meeting on the Breezewood Drive construction project and a meet-and-greet with the new superintendent. Both events run from 4 to 6 p.m.
At the construction information meeting, representatives from the city and the project’s civil engineering firm, McCormick Taylor Inc., will present preliminary designs, answer questions and take feedback from community members. The meeting will be held at Heritage Baptist Church, but comment forms will be available online through July 27 for residents who can’t attend in person.
Project plans for Breezewood Drive include widening the lanes of the existing road and adding curbs, gutters, sidewalks, landscaping and a drainage system. The construction zone will span the length of about 10 football fields, parallel to U.S. 501 and just south of its intersection with U.S. 221.
The Breezewood Drive improvements are one of five road construction projects in preliminary design phases this summer, according to the city’s website. A sixth road construction project, focused on repairing the John Lynch Memorial Bridge, is underway with Fifth Street detours expected through the end of the month.
Also at 4 p.m. Thursday, residents can attend a meet-and-greet with Kristy Somerville-Midgette, the new superintendent of Lynchburg City Schools. She will speak and mingle with community members at the Heritage High School cafeteria.
Somerville-Midgette began her new role on July 1, taking over for Benjamin Copeland, the interim superintendent who had held the position since October.
Somerville-Midgette brings more than two decades of experience in public education with her to Lynchburg, serving most recently as the division superintendent for Brunswick County Public Schools. She now returns to the city of her alma maters: the University of Lynchburg, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education, and Liberty University, where she received her doctorate in educational leadership and administration.
After weeks of tense budget discussions, the Lynchburg City Council has a break in its meeting calendar and will not convene again until August 26.
