Whether you’re trying to enter Smithfield’s historic district, or leave it, you’re likely to encounter a row of traffic barrels due to concurrent road work on the Cypress Creek Bridge and in the 400 block of Main Street.

The Main Street work is tied to the relocation of an underground natural gas pipeline owned by Columbia Gas, a company spokeswoman told the Times.

Since January 2024, the two-lane Cypress Creek Bridge that connects downtown Smithfield to the east end of town has been restricted to a single westbound lane as Virginia Department of Transportation contractor Crofton Construction works to rehabilitate the 1975 structure. 

Through an estimated fall completion date, eastbound traffic is being diverted to the Route 10 Bypass via Main Street, which itself is now narrowed in the 400 block by a row of orange-striped barrels near the Laundry Land laundromat. Main Street, however, still allows two-way traffic.

Columbia spokeswoman Stephanie Benson said the pipeline relocation is “part of the town of Smithfield’s beautification efforts.” She said the pipeline work is estimated to be complete by the end of June.

“When encountering work zones, drivers in the area should keep a safe distance between vehicles, reduce speed and obey … all posted signs,” Benson said.

On Grace Street, which runs parallel to Main, a third project is underway. There, motorists have encountered alternating lane closures and flaggers as VDOT makes sidewalk and curb-and-gutter repairs ahead of Grace Street’s scheduled 2026 repaving.

According to Assistant Isle of Wight County Administrator Don Robertson, the pipeline relocation is being done under a right-of-way permit with the town of Smithfield as an independent project under the design and funding of Columbia Gas. It’s also indirectly related to a county-administered project to extend sidewalks from the 400 block of Main Street to Westside Elementary School, Robertson said.

The county’s sidewalk contractor, Branscome, is wrapping up a phase of the project that extended sidewalks from Great Spring Road to West Main Street, and will be moving next to the segment from the VDOT Park-and-Ride parking lot to Westside Elementary, Robertson said.

The gas line relocation is related to a conflict with stormwater lines for the sidewalk and a future widening of the Main Street and Route 10 intersection, Robertson said.The county sidewalk project “will not begin in that area for at least another four weeks,” Robertson said.

The future widening of Main Street from four lanes to six at its widest point is expected to begin in May 2027 and last 18 months, resulting in an October 2028 completion date.