Virginia

[Jmiles32]

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2018/08/widening-work-complete-on-busy-loudoun-co-commuter-route/

WASHINGTON – A long-running project to widen a busy commuter route has been completed in Loudoun County, with Virginia Route 606 now widened to four lanes all the way from Evergreen Mills Road to the Dulles Greenway west of Dulles International Airport.

A formal ribbon-cutting on the final piece of the 5-mile Old Ox Road widening, from two lanes to four lanes with a median, is planned for next week.

The Virginia Department of Transportation hopes the wider road will help commuters to and from Ashburn, Sterling, Herndon and the airport. Up to 26,000 vehicles a day use the road, which can serve as an alternative to Route 28.

The three-year, $119 million project included new traffic lights, a new intersection at and extension of Loudoun County Parkway to provide a complete connection between U.S. Route 50 and Virginia Route 7, two new bridges and a shared use path.

Loudoun County is separately working with developers on a schedule for a related project to build Arcola Boulevard, which will run southwest from near where Loudoun County Parkway and Old Ox Road meet to Route 50 to provide another option in the area. Supervisor Matt Letourneau told constituents he hoped to have an update on that project soon.

It is one of many missing links Loudoun County plans to get built in coming years.

[D-Dey65]

Nice photo comparison.

http://twitter.com/vadot/status/992056250715328513?s=21

"Today the intersection looks much the same as it did 66 years ago."

--Sorry, VDOT. But since you removed the divider on one of the roads, there's no way I can believe that. Still a nice picture, though.

I counted.  There are 47 northbound and 44 southbound signals between 50 and the river.  The disparity is because several signals in Waldorf and south of La Plata are configured to stop only one direction on 301.

Predictably, the biggest concentration is in the Waldorf area, which results in there being more signals south of Branch Ave than north.  Since 1995hoo mentioned using MD 225 between 301 and 210, I should point out that there are only 4 northbound and 2 southbound signals between 225 and the river.  There are 18 northbound and 15 southbound between 228 and the river.

On the Virginia side, add 7 between the river and Port Royal (including the signal at US 17).

Aw, damn. And I'm still thinking of taking US 301 on my trip up to NYC, just so I can stop at Horne's.


How's the Harry Nice bridge doing right now as far as maintenance and closures? I haven't found anything about it on MdMTA's website, and I want to be sure I won't be in a situation where the bridge is closed down to one lane.

[cpzilliacus]

How's the Harry Nice bridge doing right now as far as maintenance and closures? I haven't found anything about it on MdMTA's website, and I want to be sure I won't be in a situation where the bridge is closed down to one lane.

Apparently all clear for now.  Click here then click  "(us 301) nice bridge" under keywords to check for upcoming work.

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio: You shall not pass: McLean residents, VDOT debate plans to block cut-through traffic

McLEAN, Va. – For residents who live in the area of Georgetown Pike and the Capital Beltway, congestion from cars using their neighborhoods as a cut-through can leave them trapped in their driveways.

While all agree a solution needs to be found to alleviate the issue, a plan on the table is receiving mixed reviews.

The plan involves closing the Georgetown Pike on-ramp to the Inner Loop of the Beltway for six hours every weekday afternoon. It would begin as a 4-month pilot program, and if successful, could become a permanent change.

[roadman65]

What was the purpose of US 60Z in Williamsburg, VA?  Why was it numbered that unique number, and being it served residential areas (and not a business area) it could have not been a business route.

If I recall it used present day Francis Street and Richmond Road and looped from its parent at the York/Paige/Lafayette intersection and to the Richmond Road/Bypass Road intersection. It mainly went through the restored area.

[Mapmikey]

What was the purpose of US 60Z in Williamsburg, VA?  Why was it numbered that unique number, and being it served residential areas (and not a business area) it could have not been a business route.

If I recall it used present day Francis Street and Richmond Road and looped from its parent at the York/Paige/Lafayette intersection and to the Richmond Road/Bypass Road intersection. It mainly went through the restored area.

US 60Z existed 1934-74 before being renumbered as VA 132 (later 162 then dropped from the primary system in 1993) west of central Williamsburg and VA 5 on the rest as it is today.  Until 1940 it used Duke of Gloucester St right through the historical area.

I have never found any document explaining the peculiar designation although there are 2 possibilities I can think of:  one is that there was a US 60Y not that far away (Newport News) and they wanted to differentiate between the two.  The other is that in the original numbering system 1918-23, spurs off the main numbered routes were given letter designations starting with Z and working backwards down the alphabet.  This was replaced with the first 3-digit numbers in 1923.  Perhaps it was envisioned to do this with US routes initially before deciding not to do this statewide (I believe Williamsburg was the first place in Virginia to get a formal bypass).  It is also possible this was a Suffolk District decision.

Despite it being around for 40 years, I have never seen a picture of a US 60Z sign.

[Jmiles32]

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2018/08/construction-on-i-95-widening-over-the-rappahannock-gets-underway/

WASHINGTON – Major construction began this week to widen a frequently congested stretch of Interstate 95 near Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The four-year $132 million project will build three new southbound lanes over the Rappahannock River by the summer of 2022. A similar northbound span that had been canceled will now be built later as part of a deal tied to the extension of the 95 Express Lanes 10 miles south to just north of U.S. Route 17, but that project remains in development.

The new span will provide separated through lanes for I-95 drivers going beyond Virginia Route 3 and U.S. 17, with existing lanes serving local traffic getting on or off at the two exits. The changes are meant to reduce weaving and congestion-related delays, said Kelly Hannon of VDOT's Fredericksburg district.

For now, construction work on the southbound span will close the left shoulders on both the northbound and southbound lanes of the highway. Crews are also expected to begin clearing trees in the median near the river later this month.

No lane closures are planned during rush hours, but lanes are expected to be closed in the area overnight and possibly other times through 2022.

The work zone is more than 4 miles in length, from just north of Exit 133 in Stafford County after Centreport Parkway to just south of Exit 130 in Fredericksburg.

As part of the project, entrance and exit ramps between I-95 and Route 17 will be changed, and the I-95 overpasses above Route 17 will also be replaced.

[Jmiles32]

http://www.dailypress.com/news/york-county/dp-nws-phase-i-64-widening-york-20180810-story.html

Construction on the third and final segment of a six-year project to widen Interstate 64 on the Peninsula will start Sunday, weather-permitting, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The agency said the $178.3-million project in York County will add a travel lane and shoulder in both directions along an 8.25-mile stretch of interstate. The segment starts about 1.15 miles west of exit 234, the Route 199 interchange, and ends about 1.05 miles west of exit 242, the Humelsine Parkway and Marquis Center Parkway interchange.

Construction on the first segment of the widening project, from near exit 247 to near exit 255 in Newport News, started in September 2015 and ended in December 2017. The second segment, between near exit 242 and exit 247, is under construction and is scheduled to be finished in spring 2019, according to the I-64 widening project website.

VDOT says it anticipates the third phase to finish in fall 2021.

In addition to adding the travel lane, bridges at the Colonial Parkway and Lakeshead Drive will be widened and repaired. The bridges over Queens Creek, near mile marker 239, will be completely replaced, and several culverts along the interstate will be repaired and lengthened.

VDOT also says acceleration and deceleration lanes will be extended, and the I-64 off-ramp to Route 143 at exit 238 will be reconfigured

Surprised/disappointed that no potential Segment 4(north of Williamsburg) was submitted to Smart Scale this time around. While former VA Security of Transportation Aubrey Layne believed that any such project would not score well(due to all the other work being done to I-64 in the Hampton Roads area), I would still have liked to of seen whether or not this prediction proved accurate. I-64 between I-295 and Williamsburg should definitely be 6 lanes.

[plain]

http://www.dailypress.com/news/york-county/dp-nws-phase-i-64-widening-york-20180810-story.html

Construction on the third and final segment of a six-year project to widen Interstate 64 on the Peninsula will start Sunday, weather-permitting, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The agency said the $178.3-million project in York County will add a travel lane and shoulder in both directions along an 8.25-mile stretch of interstate. The segment starts about 1.15 miles west of exit 234, the Route 199 interchange, and ends about 1.05 miles west of exit 242, the Humelsine Parkway and Marquis Center Parkway interchange.

Construction on the first segment of the widening project, from near exit 247 to near exit 255 in Newport News, started in September 2015 and ended in December 2017. The second segment, between near exit 242 and exit 247, is under construction and is scheduled to be finished in spring 2019, according to the I-64 widening project website.

VDOT says it anticipates the third phase to finish in fall 2021.

In addition to adding the travel lane, bridges at the Colonial Parkway and Lakeshead Drive will be widened and repaired. The bridges over Queens Creek, near mile marker 239, will be completely replaced, and several culverts along the interstate will be repaired and lengthened.

VDOT also says acceleration and deceleration lanes will be extended, and the I-64 off-ramp to Route 143 at exit 238 will be reconfigured

Surprised/disappointed that no potential Segment 4(north of Williamsburg) was submitted to Smart Scale this time around. While former VA Security of Transportation Aubrey Layne believed that any such project would not score well(due to all the other work being done to I-64 in the Hampton Roads area), I would still have liked to of seen whether or not this prediction proved accurate. I-64 between I-295 and Williamsburg should definitely be 6 lanes.

Agreed, though I think any future widening may occur from the Richmond area eastward. Already happening between I-295 and Exit 205 (VA 249). What I would like to see next is from that segment to Exit 211 (VA 106) and ultimately to Exit 220 (VA 33).

[Jmiles32]

http://www.dailypress.com/news/york-county/dp-nws-phase-i-64-widening-york-20180810-story.html

Construction on the third and final segment of a six-year project to widen Interstate 64 on the Peninsula will start Sunday, weather-permitting, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The agency said the $178.3-million project in York County will add a travel lane and shoulder in both directions along an 8.25-mile stretch of interstate. The segment starts about 1.15 miles west of exit 234, the Route 199 interchange, and ends about 1.05 miles west of exit 242, the Humelsine Parkway and Marquis Center Parkway interchange.

Construction on the first segment of the widening project, from near exit 247 to near exit 255 in Newport News, started in September 2015 and ended in December 2017. The second segment, between near exit 242 and exit 247, is under construction and is scheduled to be finished in spring 2019, according to the I-64 widening project website.

VDOT says it anticipates the third phase to finish in fall 2021.

In addition to adding the travel lane, bridges at the Colonial Parkway and Lakeshead Drive will be widened and repaired. The bridges over Queens Creek, near mile marker 239, will be completely replaced, and several culverts along the interstate will be repaired and lengthened.

VDOT also says acceleration and deceleration lanes will be extended, and the I-64 off-ramp to Route 143 at exit 238 will be reconfigured

Surprised/disappointed that no potential Segment 4(north of Williamsburg) was submitted to Smart Scale this time around. While former VA Security of Transportation Aubrey Layne believed that any such project would not score well(due to all the other work being done to I-64 in the Hampton Roads area), I would still have liked to of seen whether or not this prediction proved accurate. I-64 between I-295 and Williamsburg should definitely be 6 lanes.

Agreed, though I think any future widening may occur from the Richmond area eastward. Already happening between I-295 and Exit 205 (VA 249). What I would like to see next is from that segment to Exit 211 (VA 106) and ultimately to Exit 220 (VA 33).

Believe it or not, a project that would have widened I-64 to six lanes between Exit 205(VA-249) and Exit 211(VA-106) was in fact submitted to Smart Scale recently. Surprisingly however, it did not score well. Cost may have been a big factor as it was projected to cost $107 million and was ranked 55th out of 72 Richmond Districtwide projects. IMHO if Richmond had its own Transportation Authority such as Hampton Roads and NOVA, this project probably would have scored much better.
https://paptprd.blob.core.windows.net/scorecards/F2-0000001513-R02.PDF

[Beltway]

Believe it or not, a project that would have widened I-64 to six lanes between Exit 205(VA-249) and Exit 211(VA-106) was in fact submitted to Smart Scale recently. Surprisingly however, it did not score well. Cost may have been a big factor as it was projected to cost $107 million and was ranked 55th out of 72 Richmond Districtwide projects. IMHO if Richmond had its own Transportation Authority such as Hampton Roads and NOVA, this project probably would have scored much better.
https://paptprd.blob.core.windows.net/scorecards/F2-0000001513-R02.PDF

Technically New Kent County is part of the Richmond MSA, but in practice that project is far enough from the city that it probably would not be in an RTA.

[froggie]

6 lanes would be a "nice to have", but the key priority has always been from Williamsburg down.  It may be super-thick, but west of Williamsburg rarely slows to a crawl unless there's a crash.  The same could not be said for the Williamsburg-Newport News segment.

There's also US 60 as a functional, if slower (but much less stressful) alternative between Bottoms Bridge and Croaker.

[Beltway]

6 lanes would be a "nice to have", but the key priority has always been from Williamsburg down.  It may be super-thick, but west of Williamsburg rarely slows to a crawl unless there's a crash.  The same could not be said for the Williamsburg-Newport News segment.

Plus I-295 to Bottoms Bridge, also now under construction.  Traffic volumes are considerably lower between Bottoms Bridge and Williamsburg.

There's also US 60 as a functional, if slower (but much less stressful) alternative between Bottoms Bridge and Croaker.

A good way to use for a trip between Richmond and Williamsburg.  All 4 lanes on US-60.  Usually not very many minutes longer per the VMS sign on I-64 showing estimated times on the two routes.

[froggie]

I saw Bottoms Bridge as an annoyance, but nothing nearly as bad as Williamsburg south.  That said, I'm not going to say no to the Bottoms Bridge-295 improvement.

[VTGoose]

6 lanes would be a "nice to have", but the key priority has always been from Williamsburg down.  It may be super-thick, but west of Williamsburg rarely slows to a crawl unless there's a crash.  The same could not be said for the Williamsburg-Newport News segment.

There's also US 60 as a functional, if slower (but much less stressful) alternative between Bottoms Bridge and Croaker.

That section of I-64 is probably much like I-81 where averaging traffic numbers doesn't paint a true picture. There are days and times where even 6 lanes wouldn't be adequate for the traffic. I remember from a number of years ago several white-knuckle drives between Richmond and Newport News when driving on a Friday evening to a weekend soccer tournament in Virginia Beach. Bumper-to-bumper traffic in both lanes, with people traveling at a variety of speeds in the right lane and many in the left lane trying to go hammer-down. If you moved to the right lane to let them off your bumper your chances of getting back in the left lane when you got behind one of those slow drivers were pretty slim.

[froggie]

Wasn't even considering "averaging traffic volumes"...was going off my extensive experience (having been stationed in Norfolk twice, including within the past 5 years).  I don't disagree that it's often bumper-to-bumper with a disparity in travel speeds between the two lanes, but it's still consistently moving between Richmond and Williamsburg.  Past Williamsburg is where you typically start getting the consistent sub-30-in-both-lanes...

[Beltway]

Wasn't even considering "averaging traffic volumes"...was going off my extensive experience (having been stationed in Norfolk twice, including within the past 5 years).  I don't disagree that it's often bumper-to-bumper with a disparity in travel speeds between the two lanes, but it's still consistently moving between Richmond and Williamsburg.  Past Williamsburg is where you typically start getting the consistent sub-30-in-both-lanes...

I've lived in the city of Richmond over 30 years, and based on my own experience as well as hearing what other people say and hearing traffic reports, there are plenty of times on weekends when there is major congestion between on I-64 between I-295 and Williamsburg (inside of I-295 most already has 6 lanes).

Based on my "20 weekends Fri-Sun per year" test it would need 6 lanes, and there has been lots of sentiment in the Richmond area for at least 20 years that is needed.

[J N Winkler]

20 years ago, I had a year membership at Colonial Williamsburg and would often travel between DC and Williamsburg to milk it.  I preferred to leave very early in the morning, at 6 or 7 AM, so I would hit I-64 around 8 or 9 AM, before the traffic became really bad.  I never felt any of the four-lane arterials in the area (US 60 and US 17) were suitable alternatives because they were so stoplight-infested.

[cpzilliacus]

For those that geek out on traffic counts, the VDOT 2017 traffic count book is available on their Web site here.

[Jmiles32]

Believe it or not, a project that would have widened I-64 to six lanes between Exit 205(VA-249) and Exit 211(VA-106) was in fact submitted to Smart Scale recently. Surprisingly however, it did not score well. Cost may have been a big factor as it was projected to cost $107 million and was ranked 55th out of 72 Richmond Districtwide projects. IMHO if Richmond had its own Transportation Authority such as Hampton Roads and NOVA, this project probably would have scored much better.
https://paptprd.blob.core.windows.net/scorecards/F2-0000001513-R02.PDF

Technically New Kent County is part of the Richmond MSA, but in practice that project is far enough from the city that it probably would not be in an RTA.

Possibly, but New Kent County is also one of the fastest growing localities in the state(even if the population at the moment may be small). Regardless, I think that if New Kent County and the Richmond metro wanted I-64 widened badly enough, an RTA could definitely help contribute.

[plain]

We all know how bad I-64 can get, even west of Williamsburg, which is why US 60 is a great alternative to begin with. With all the widening projects happening (both on the Peninsula and just east of I-295), I now have faith that at least there will be more to come, maybe in our lifetimes. Maybe.

[hbelkins]

...Croaker.

Forgive me for chuckling when I saw someone with the user name "froggie" posting something with the word "Croaker" in it. 

[plain]

...Croaker.

Forgive me for chuckling when I saw someone with the user name "froggie" posting something with the word "Croaker" in it. 

What's even more ironic is Croaker is a great place to catch croakers (the fish, that is) on the York River lmao

[Beltway]

...Croaker.

Forgive me for chuckling when I saw someone with the user name "froggie" posting something with the word "Croaker" in it. 

What's even more ironic is Croaker is a great place to catch croakers (the fish, that is) on the York River lmao

Toano is nearby, and for some reason when I see that name I think of "toad".

[cpzilliacus]

Forgive me for chuckling when I saw someone with the user name "froggie" posting something with the word "Croaker" in it. 

Next to Croaker is Norge, Virginia.  "Norge" is Norwegian for Norway, and was originally settled by  people of Norwegian  heritage. However, I do not think there are any fjords in Virginia.