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[1995hoo]

It looks to me from that rendering that Braddock Road traffic will be able to reach the outbound express lanes, but not the inbound express lanes (at least not directly, anyway).

[Jmiles32]

It looks to me from that rendering that Braddock Road traffic will be able to reach the outbound express lanes, but not the inbound express lanes (at least not directly, anyway).

Yeah, I thought that connection omission (rather important IMO) was interesting so I asked about it at a project public hearing a while back. The answer I received went something along the lines of we wanted to add it but to do so would be nearly impossible due to the little if any remaining room within the interchange's proximity (might be saving the rest of the room for VA-28 express lanes who knows). When I then asked how someone coming from Braddock Road would theoretically access the eastbound express lanes, I was told that accessing them via Westfields Blvd/VA-28, US-29/I-66 (looks like there is a planned access point in between the US-29 and VA-28 interchanges), or further down I-66 east should be sufficient.  However, if down the road VDOT/Cintra feel that a potential connection here could make more than enough money to justify the likely expensive ramp, then I'm sure it would get done.

[1995hoo]

I suppose another option would be to loop around via Stone Road and US-29, though I don’t know how the traffic is on that route. My mom used to work in that area at Ormond Stone Intermediate (the junior high school a little further west on Braddock Road), but she’s been retired for long enough that I’m not inclined to ask her about traffic.

[bluecountry]

It looks to me from that rendering that Braddock Road traffic will be able to reach the outbound express lanes, but not the inbound express lanes (at least not directly, anyway).

Yeah, I thought that connection omission (rather important IMO) was interesting so I asked about it at a project public hearing a while back. The answer I received went something along the lines of we wanted to add it but to do so would be nearly impossible due to the little if any remaining room within the interchange's proximity (might be saving the rest of the room for VA-28 express lanes who knows). When I then asked how someone coming from Braddock Road would theoretically access the eastbound express lanes, I was told that accessing them via Westfields Blvd/VA-28, US-29/I-66 (looks like there is a planned access point in between the US-29 and VA-28 interchanges), or further down I-66 east should be sufficient.  However, if down the road VDOT/Cintra feel that a potential connection here could make more than enough money to justify the likely expensive ramp, then I'm sure it would get done.

So how again do you reach express EB 66 via 28?

[1995hoo]

It looks to me from that rendering that Braddock Road traffic will be able to reach the outbound express lanes, but not the inbound express lanes (at least not directly, anyway).

Yeah, I thought that connection omission (rather important IMO) was interesting so I asked about it at a project public hearing a while back. The answer I received went something along the lines of we wanted to add it but to do so would be nearly impossible due to the little if any remaining room within the interchange's proximity (might be saving the rest of the room for VA-28 express lanes who knows). When I then asked how someone coming from Braddock Road would theoretically access the eastbound express lanes, I was told that accessing them via Westfields Blvd/VA-28, US-29/I-66 (looks like there is a planned access point in between the US-29 and VA-28 interchanges), or further down I-66 east should be sufficient.  However, if down the road VDOT/Cintra feel that a potential connection here could make more than enough money to justify the likely expensive ramp, then I'm sure it would get done.

So how again do you reach express EB 66 via 28?

At the present, you don't, because there are no express lanes yet. But for how it is to work in the future, look at the rendering in reply #446 in this thread from Jmiles32 and trace the ramps.

[bluecountry]

With the confession that I don't know that interchange terribly well (particularly coming from the west), I struggle to see what the big improvement it - it's still a right-hand exit that leads drivers onto the rightmost lane of VA-28 northbound (towards Dulles, etc). Am I missing anything? Is the merge simpler?

Just drove on the new ramp this morning. While at the moment I wouldn't really call it much of an improvement due to all the ongoing construction and temporary short merge onto VA-28, it's important to keep in mind that this won't be the case for long as when additional phases of the interchange are completed things will get far better.

EDIT: Just looked up the VDOT project page - I see it's part of a larger overall project, including getting rid of that left turn across VA-28 to get onto inbound 66.

^Correct. The current VA-28/I-66 interchange is arguably the most outdated interchange in the entire Northern Virginia region and is largely responsible for horrendous backups on I-66 eastbound/VA-28 northbound in the morning and I-66 westbound/VA-28 southbound in the afternoon. A nearby traffic light for Braddock Road just north of the interchange didn't help matters. Regardless of whether the larger Transform I-66 project took place, funding for this $300 million dollar interchange upgrade was secured no matter what as it was simply that big of a priority.

As for the new interchange design, it is very impressive IMO and will greatly improve upon exciting connections while also offering plenty of new ones such as to and from Braddock Road, and to and from the I-66 express lanes. Supposedly there is also reserved right of way for potential VA-28 express lanes down the road...

1.  Whats the pink mean?
2.  So you can get the express lanes from 28 to 66 E/W?
3.  Still no way to get to 28S from 66 E?

[froggie]

^ 1. Pink are the bike/ped paths being built as part of the project.
3. No real need for such a connection since US 29 makes the same connection just to the south and is signed for it.

[1995hoo]

Regarding bluecountry's question #2, it appears you won’t be able to go from northbound Route 28 to westbound I-66, regardless of whether you want the general-purpose lanes or the HO/T lanes. Similar reason to what froggie cites—you can use Route 29 to connect (basically the same movement he mentions, just in reverse), though I don’t know whether that will offer express lane access because I haven’t looked to try to find out. But southbound Route 28 will connect to the HO/T lanes in both directions, per tracing the ramps in the rendering above, and northbound Route 28 will connect to the eastbound HO/T lanes.

[Sonic99]

Technically if someone wants to go from NB 28 to WB 66, they also could use the Braddock Rd interchange to get to the WB lanes, but that is probably a bit more "silly" versus just using WB 29.

To bluecountry...

1. Pink in that map is the walking/biking path through the interchange. Looks like they're moving foot traffic completely away from all the vehicle traffic, so not need for sidewalks or crosswalks.
2. Both NB and SB get to the EB 66 Express Lanes on the south side of the interchange. SB curves left under the NB lanes to a ramp that goes up and over mainline 66. NB has a ramp curving to the right basically above the NB ramps over to connect to it.
3. NB looks pretty obvious that it accesses both the regular 66 lanes and the Express Lanes?

[bluecountry]

Regarding bluecountry's question #2, it appears you won’t be able to go from northbound Route 28 to westbound I-66, regardless of whether you want the general-purpose lanes or the HO/T lanes. Similar reason to what froggie cites—you can use Route 29 to connect (basically the same movement he mentions, just in reverse), though I don’t know whether that will offer express lane access because I haven’t looked to try to find out. But southbound Route 28 will connect to the HO/T lanes in both directions, per tracing the ramps in the rendering above, and northbound Route 28 will connect to the eastbound HO/T lanes.

It will not happen soon but if you ask me, I would have liked:
-Access from 28 NB to 66 WB and 66 EB access to 28 SB
THEN
-Extend New Braddock across to Stone Road with full interchange at I-66 west of 29
THEN
-Completely re do 'downtown' Centreville on 29.
  Make thru traffic bypass and use New Braddock Road, completely re-develope 29 between Pickwick and Trinity to a real walkable main street.

[odditude]

It will not happen soon but if you ask me, I would have liked:
-Access from 28 NB to 66 WB and 66 EB access to 28 SB
THEN
-Extend New Braddock across to Stone Road with full interchange at I-66 west of 29
THEN
-Completely re do 'downtown' Centreville on 29.
  Make thru traffic bypass and use New Braddock Road, completely re-develope 29 between Pickwick and Trinity to a real walkable main street.

direct access from I-66 EB to SR 28 SB was just removed and redirected to use US 29 for the connection. if they had intended to recreate direct access, i suspect it would've been built as part of the EB-NB flyover ramp construction.

[MillTheRoadgeek]

Just in: According to variable message boards posted along the corridor, it seems the new alignment of the 28 to 66 East ramp is opening this week in phases. First the left turn for SB 28 drivers will open on Wednesday the 23rd, followed by the right turn on NB 28 two days later. This will definitely clear the way for the new NB 28 alignment to head up to the bridge and eliminate said traffic light.

This does also bring up a question. Will the turnaround at the former ECL Park light even open? The Braddock interchange is progressing nicely, but it'll seem pointless to have that turn lane installed for only a short time, if all signalized intersections on 28 are to be eliminated by year's end. I'm not sure where they're even going with the lane shifting happening north of Braddock/Walney to begin with.

[Stephane Dumas]

The guys of B&V uploaded a part of one of the new ramps of the I-66/VA-28 interchange on Google Streetview.
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8470158,-77.4318956,3a,75y,342.65h,92.87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAF1QipNIrFz1Gxkc1gkiFJmedIoKpNTyjR5aCZSY0Ei_!2e10!3e11!7i7680!8i3840

[Jmiles32]

This does also bring up a question. Will the turnaround at the former ECL Park light even open? The Braddock interchange is progressing nicely, but it'll seem pointless to have that turn lane installed for only a short time, if all signalized intersections on 28 are to be eliminated by year's end. I'm not sure where they're even going with the lane shifting happening north of Braddock/Walney to begin with.

Probably has to do with the widening of VA-28 through there to four lanes in each direction. Don't anticipate that light ever opening again as a new connector road to the park should take care of those movements.

[MillTheRoadgeek]

The guys of B&V uploaded a part of one of the new ramps of the I-66/VA-28 interchange on Google Streetview.
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8470158,-77.4318956,3a,75y,342.65h,92.87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAF1QipNIrFz1Gxkc1gkiFJmedIoKpNTyjR5aCZSY0Ei_!2e10!3e11!7i7680!8i3840

Saw this one. Nice to see them capturing it!

Probably has to do with the widening of VA-28 through there to four lanes in each direction. Don't anticipate that light ever opening again as a new connector road to the park should take care of those movements.

I understand the direct connection to ECL is done for, now filled up entirely. However, the signal at said intersection, as well as the median gap, remain as of this week. There is a tarped-off light which suggests it is to open for U-turn movements. Such has been suggested, but overall I cannot 100% confirm such a movement will open:
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FFixRoute28%2Fposts%2F1110310565840005&width=500
Other than that, it does seem a bit hard to tell what maneuvers they are making with the lane shift thus far. I swear only a few weeks ago, NB 28 was verging on the right-hand shoulder.
I was only wondering if they were to get it into the position needed for such a left-turn lane.

Also a little correction to my previous post - the SB 28 to EB 66 ramp is to shift over to a new loop ramp, on the right-hand side of SB 28 (parallel to the new flyover). I haven't seen the new ramp coming in, but it'll be an interesting situation especially considering a construction yard is inside it.

[MillTheRoadgeek]

Update; seems VDOT has scrapped plans for a U-turn detour at the ECL light. Was by there the other day and it was finally dismantled except for a single pole on the eastern side.

[bluecountry]

Is it me or did the 66 construction plans, with the lane shutdowns especially west of 29, EB just west of 28, around FFXCOPKWY, and around 50, get more disruptive than originally planned, perhaps to take advantage of reduced travel due to COVID?

[MillTheRoadgeek]

Is it me or did the 66 construction plans, with the lane shutdowns especially west of 29, EB just west of 28, around FFXCOPKWY, and around 50, get more disruptive than originally planned, perhaps to take advantage of reduced travel due to COVID?

Correct - I have read that they've been able to take more risks with shuffling new road and ramp configurations too.

That being said - anyone hear? The new NB 28 overpass should be opened now, and the last light at Braddock is gone as well. I believe the overpass connection with Walney is also coming this week.

[1995hoo]

I haven't seen anything about it on this forum. It seems the DDI that was planned for Nutley Street at I-66 has been replaced with something else. (East is at the top of the image.) The URL calls this a "dogbone" interchange. The yellow line is a bike/pedestrian path.

[froggie]

Dogbone (also called Dumbbell in some regions) = A diamond interchange with modified roundabouts at the ramp terminals.  Modified in the sense that they are not full roundabouts but the two sides combined complete the U-turn.

Interesting that they included loop ramps onto 66 in this version.

[1995hoo]

The other thing I find mildly interesting is that in this rendering, it looks like thru traffic on Nutley could bypass one roundabout in each direction by using the bypass lane that appears to be intended for traffic exiting Nutley onto the loop ramps and then simply changing lanes back to the left. The other diagram I saw (I don't remember where) seemed to imply that there would be a curb separating the lanes to prevent that sort of thing. The latter design with the curbs seems like it might be less than ideal due to (a) difficulty in getting around a crash if one occurs and (b) more complicated movements for someone who exits I-66 and wants to turn around to go back the way he came (similar in concept to a "cloverleaf U-turn").

I can think of any number of intersections where having a curb to separate left-turn and thru traffic would be a good idea in theory but would become a problem as soon as there's a rear-ending or similar.

[Steve D]

I haven't seen anything about it on this forum. It seems the DDI that was planned for Nutley Street at I-66 has been replaced with something else. (East is at the top of the image.) The URL calls this a "dogbone" interchange. The yellow line is a bike/pedestrian path.

Will there be traffic lights at the ends of the ramps trying to cut across?

[Dirt Roads]

I haven't seen anything about it on this forum. It seems the DDI that was planned for Nutley Street at I-66 has been replaced with something else. (East is at the top of the image.) The URL calls this a "dogbone" interchange. The yellow line is a bike/pedestrian path.

Will there be traffic lights at the ends of the ramps trying to cut across?

If not, that could be a real problem for those [few folks] trying to get to the Vienna Metro station from westbound I-66.  Never came into the Metro station that way, but I would do a similar maneuver four or five times a year when the old-style CompUSA was down there.  It had the best high-tech bookstore in the DC area, and included some great books on control system safety.  It wasn't worth the trip after the book selection dwindled (but I did get a bunch of bargain desktops there over the years).   

[1995hoo]

I haven't seen anything about it on this forum. It seems the DDI that was planned for Nutley Street at I-66 has been replaced with something else. (East is at the top of the image.) The URL calls this a "dogbone" interchange. The yellow line is a bike/pedestrian path.

Will there be traffic lights at the ends of the ramps trying to cut across?

I don’t know, but I assume not—why construct roundabouts if you’re just going to throw up traffic lights?

People on westbound I-66 heading for the Metro stop will still be able to use the ramp located west of the Vaden Drive overpass that leads to Country Creek Road; a right turn at the top of that ramp takes you to the north side of the Metro station.

....

CompUSA

....

Are you perchance referring to Micro Center, which is located in the Pan Am shopping center just south of there at the intersection of Nutley and Route 29? That store is still there (been there at least since 1992; I worked there during the summer of 1993). The nearest CompUSA to the Vienna Metro was near Tysons just west of the Koons car dealership at the junction of Routes 7 and 123. I remember before they changed the name to CompUSA—it was the SoftWarehouse and it was generally thought they changed the name because of the implication that they only sold software, not hardware.

[Dirt Roads]

....

CompUSA

....

Are you perchance referring to Micro Center, which is located in the Pan Am shopping center just south of there at the intersection of Nutley and Route 29? That store is still there (been there at least since 1992; I worked there during the summer of 1993). The nearest CompUSA to the Vienna Metro was near Tysons just west of the Koons car dealership at the junction of Routes 7 and 123. I remember before they changed the name to CompUSA—it was the SoftWarehouse and it was generally thought they changed the name because of the implication that they only sold software, not hardware.

Yep, I've got them confused.  Do you remember Micro Center having a good high-tech bookstore?  I'm pretty sure that the new-style CompUSA in Tysons was not the bookstore (been there a few times, particularly when I was working almost next door on the Silver Line project).  It's been more than 20 years since I've been there (Micro Center), but I was still a faithful customer even after moving out to Clarke County in 1996.  I still have a turbo 8086 machine from Micro Center that I bought in 1992 or 1993 that may have been the only model ever built with a high speed processor that allowed the machine to use a CD/Rom drive.  Doubt that it works anymore, but I still keep it around just in case I need a monster DOS machine.