The idea of building a bridge across the James River to connect Surry County with the Peninsula fared better in this year’s General Assembly session than the year before.

Senate Joint Resolution 263, which would direct the Virginia Department of Transportation to study the “need and options” for constructing a bridge to connect Surry to James City or Charles City counties, passed the House of Delegates 66-31 on Feb. 20 after previously passing the Senate Jan. 29.

State Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, whose district includes Surry County, sponsored the resolution after a similar proposal by Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, died in a House committee last year.

Taylor, whose district also encompasses Surry, last year proposed that the bridge begin at Hog Island, a state wildlife management area near Dominion Energy’s nuclear power plant, and connect to James City County. Aird’s proposal too had initially requested that VDOT focus on Hog Island as its specific connection point, but “based upon feedback that our office sought and received from VDOT during the legislative session, it was conveyed to us there would be environmental and regulatory concerns related to these connection points,” said Aird’s chief of staff, Jameson Babb. “As such, and with collaboration with VDOT, we adjusted the language and scope of the resolution to zoom out the focus of the study and to look at alternate potential connection points and weigh in, on a high level, on their potential costs as well as associated environmental and regulatory implications.”

Babb said the version that passed the House is significantly less costly than what was initially proposed. Aird had initially proposed a $1.6 million amendment to the state’s 2026-28 biennial budget based on the estimated cost from VDOT to fund what is known as a planning and environmental linkage, or PEL, study, which would have served as a first step in calculating the cost of building a bridge based on a specific set of connection points.

“Given the scaled-back nature of the study, a PEL would no longer be the proper next step, and as such, the $1.6 million was not included in the budget,” Babb said. “It is our understanding that the high-level overview study called for now in the final language would have a significantly reduced cost associated with it for VDOT.”

Surry drivers have long relied on the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry for transit across the river. VDOT operates the ferry around the clock at no cost to motorists. There are four ferries, two with a 50-car capacity and two that will hold up to 70 cars.  The fleet transports approximately 936,000 vehicles annually and is the only 14-hour state-run ferry in Virginia, according to VDOT.

Last summer, VDOT announced a planned reduction in ferry service amid a shortage of certified maritime personnel, though the decision spurred pushback from Aird and Taylor, and VDOT ultimately rescinded its plan.

SJR 263 contends a bridge is “desperately needed to support new growth in Surry County,” though that growth has yet to materialize. According to the most recent data from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center, Surry’s population of roughly 6,500 hasn’t fluctuated significantly since the 2020 Census.

Surry is home to one of two nuclear power plants operated by Dominion Energy, which according to the resolution employs thousands of Virginians. 

Surry, last year, also approved rezoning for a first-in-then-nation combination data center campus and hydrogen fuel hub Middleburg-based Green Energy Partners plans to build adjacent to the nuclear plant. The campus would include 19 data centers spread over 3 million square feet and would be built in phases. Green Energy has promised more than 1,300 permanent jobs, half with six-figure salaries, over a 13-year buildout through 2036.

The resolution states Surry is also “experiencing an increase in visitors to the locality and a need for more housing stock” as a result of its high-speed internet buildout four years ago. Prince George Electric Cooperative subsidiary Ruralband completed its buildout in 2021 of broadband coverage, where anyone who wants a fiber-to-the-home connection can obtain one.