Virginia

[Beltway]

VDOT is once again looking at the possibility of a new James River bridge in the Jamestown area.
https://www.dailypress.com/2026/02/09/jamestown-surry-bridge-study/

Studied a number of times in the past. The study was ordered by the General Assembly.

Even with the study underway, the same obstacles remain: James City County doesn't want a giant bridge landing near Jamestown, preservation groups will fight anything near the historic triangle, environmental review would be brutal, the cost would be enormous, the ferry is politically popular and free, reliable, 24/7, state‑funded and  liked by locals and tourists, and high capacity at over 1,500 vehicles per day. Nothing about those factors has changed.

It would be about 1.5 mile long and in the viewshed of historic Jamestown which is right on the river about a mile from the only logical place to put a bridge.

[plain]

VDOT is once again looking at the possibility of a new James River bridge in the Jamestown area.
https://www.dailypress.com/2026/02/09/jamestown-surry-bridge-study/

Studied a number of times in the past. The study was ordered by the General Assembly.

Even with the study underway, the same obstacles remain: James City County doesn't want a giant bridge landing near Jamestown, preservation groups will fight anything near the historic triangle, environmental review would be brutal, the cost would be enormous, the ferry is politically popular and free, reliable, 24/7, state‑funded and  liked by locals and tourists, and high capacity at over 1,500 vehicles per day. Nothing about those factors has changed.

It would be about 1.5 mile long and in the viewshed of historic Jamestown which is right on the river about a mile from the only logical place to put a bridge.

I agree with all of this. And especially the cost: it would have to be either a drawbridge or a high level bridge with a vertical clearance of around 150 ft, both of which are expensive.

[Mapmikey]

VDOT is once again looking at the possibility of a new James River bridge in the Jamestown area.
https://www.dailypress.com/2026/02/09/jamestown-surry-bridge-study/

Approaching the 100 year anniversary of when Virginia first issued a permit to a toll bridge company to build a bridge in that area in 1928.

Back then the Jamestown ferry terminal was much closer to the historic area.

[Beltway]

I-64 Gap Widening Segment B is now under construction. Installation of traffic barrier service is underway and clearing and grubbing has started.
https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/richmond-district/i-64-gap-segment-b/
The I-64 Gap Segment B widening project includes the addition of one general purpose lane on I-64 eastbound and westbound from mile markers 215.6 (just east of the New Kent Courthouse/Providence Forge exit) to 224.3 (at the New Kent and James City County line). This project will be the final of three segments that will widen I-64 from four to six lanes from mile marker 204.9 in New Kent County to mile marker 234 in York County. The widening would take place in the median of I-64 within the existing right of way.

The design-build contract was awarded in May 2025.

The other two segments of the 29-mile corridor are are well along. Segment A should be complete this year, and Segment C should be complete in 2027.

[wriddle082]

I-64 Gap Widening Segment B is now under construction. Installation of traffic barrier service is underway and clearing and grubbing has started.
https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/richmond-district/i-64-gap-segment-b/
The I-64 Gap Segment B widening project includes the addition of one general purpose lane on I-64 eastbound and westbound from mile markers 215.6 (just east of the New Kent Courthouse/Providence Forge exit) to 224.3 (at the New Kent and James City County line). This project will be the final of three segments that will widen I-64 from four to six lanes from mile marker 204.9 in New Kent County to mile marker 234 in York County. The widening would take place in the median of I-64 within the existing right of way.

The design-build contract was awarded in May 2025.

The other two segments of the 29-mile corridor are are well along. Segment A should be complete this year, and Segment C should be complete in 2027.

I don't recall there being very many bridges anywhere in the "gap" that would require widening.  I can only think of one over VA 155, as I believe most water crossings are most likely culverts, and most other road crossings go over I-64, and seem to have plenty of room underneath for a wider freeway.  So the widening should be finished pretty quickly in the long term.  Glad to see one section will be finished this year!

[sprjus4]

Segment A has a completion date of July 2027.

[Beltway]

I-64 Gap Widening Segment B is now under construction. The other two segments of the 29-mile corridor are are well along. Segment A should be complete this year, and Segment C should be complete in 2027.

I don't recall there being very many bridges anywhere in the "gap" that would require widening.  I can only think of one over VA 155, as I believe most water crossings are most likely culverts, and most other road crossings go over I-64, and seem to have plenty of room underneath for a wider freeway.  So the widening should be finished pretty quickly in the long term.  Glad to see one section will be finished this year!

The overpass bridge for VA-155 is being replaced. There are four pairs of mainline bridges that are being widened. That helps in keeping the cost to a modest average of $21 million per mile and $587 million in total.

Segment A has a completion date of July 2027.

It is a fixed date contract with a specified completion date of 7-30-2027. The contractor can finish well before a specified completion date if they want to and are able to.

Half of Segment A has the new lanes open and carrying traffic, with the original lanes closed for rehab and resurfacing. From what I see they could have all lanes open by the end of the year. Minor work could take into 2027.

[sprjus4]

It is a fixed date contract with a specified completion date of 7-30-2027. The contractor can finish well before a specified completion date if they want to and are able to.

Half of Segment A has the new lanes open and carrying traffic, with the original lanes closed for rehab and resurfacing. From what I see they could have all lanes open by the end of the year. Minor work could take into 2027.

I did read before that the western portion of the widening could be open before the whole thing is, so that is a possibility. I've driven across the new section, they definitely have made significant progress - specifically in that western part. It would certainly be nice to see.

When they were widening I-64 around Williamsburg, the southern portion of it opened to 3 lanes months before the rest did.

[noelbotevera]

Quick trip down to NoVA to visit a friend, last Sunday (2/15). A few road notes:

-Fairfax Circle is definitely a clunker, compared to the DC circles. Why doesn't US 50 tunnel under the circle instead of cutting through it? I'm not sure when the circle was last modified, but the current setup is an inconvenience for everyone (US 50 has to stop TWICE for US 29 traffic in the circle to turn, Blenheim Boulevard traffic has to compete with people cutting across the circle from nearby shopping centers, etc...).
-Loudoun County has become much more developed in the last five years, and unfortunately it seems roads have not caught up. Loudoun County Parkway is a bigger slog than Fairfax County Parkway, probably because of the long lights and lack of interchanges.
-To that point, a lot of major roads in Loudoun County don't cut across the county, providing relief to VA 7 and I-66. Instead, they feed directly into these major roads (a la Atlanta). There's some missed opportunities, like Church Road not tying into Wiehle Avenue.
-The roads within Tyson's Corner Mall are terrible. You're awkwardly dumped onto VA 7 or fed into International Boulevard; the latter of which has people clamoring to turn at VA 7, continue straight onto Gallows Road, or trying to cut the corner to Chain Bridge Road. Why does the Beltway not have free ramps directly to and from Tyson's?
-I tried VA 9 for the first time instead of US 15, and somehow it's a worse corridor than US 15. US 15 has some channelized turns at most every road; VA 9 can be summarized as "good luck". There's less signage warning you of turns, and fewer channelized turns. There's also more signals on VA 9 than US 15. I don't think I'm using VA 9 in the future to go between PA and NoVA; I did this in the name of clinching and will probably stick to US 15.
-I-66 beyond the Beltway flowed surprisingly well, though it was a Sunday. It seems like the Express Lane block the Orange Line from continuing westward, which I'm sure WMATA appreciates.

And finally some non-road notes:
-Very fond of Marumen near US 29/US 50.
-Ace Photo in Ashburn had less film variety than I expected. Great collection of cameras, and a decent section dedicated to starting a darkroom, but not a lot of variety in film (ex. the only B&W film they stock is by Ilford, and it's pretty much just the HP2). Used cameras and lenses are overpriced for my tastes.
-Tyson's Corner was very crowded for a Sunday. I have no clue why, but I did get to finish my roll of film by practicing some indoor shots there.

[74/171FAN]

I personally decided when the Express Lanes opened on I-95 to Fredericksburg to pay the tolls if headed to my parents' house on a late weekday afternoon and needed to absolutely avoid I-81 due to accidents on the latter.

Until someone convinces VDOT to actually get past NIMBYs to widen US 15 and VA 9, US 15 and VA 9 will never be viable alternatives for me when I am going for time. I remember seeing a car or two rear-ended heading north a couple times while driving US 15 south just past the Potomac River.

At least WV is four-laning US 340 between the VA line and Charles Town so that can be more useful to get to US 17/US 50 soon if I-81 has issues between Winchester and Martinsburg.

[noelbotevera]

I personally decided when the Express Lanes opened on I-95 to Fredericksburg to pay the tolls if headed to my parents' house on a late weekday afternoon and needed to absolutely avoid I-81 due to accidents on the latter.

Until someone convinces VDOT to actually get past NIMBYs to widen US 15 and VA 9, US 15 and VA 9 will never be viable alternatives for me when I am going for time. I remember seeing a car or two rear-ended heading north a couple times while driving US 15 south just past the Potomac River.

At least WV is four-laning US 340 between the VA line and Charles Town so that can be more useful to get to US 17/US 50 soon if I-81 has issues between Winchester and Martinsburg.

To clarify, I usually deal with the Beltway and I-270 when heading to NoVA. A crash on the Beltway will slow down traffic for an hour and close two lanes. A crash on US 15 closes down the entire road and requires detouring on a bunch of farm roads.

On the rare occasion that I'm headed to Dulles, then I'll use US 15 and eat the tolls on VA 267. VA 9 takes me far out of my way.

At this point I've accepted that widening US 15 will never happen because vineyards.

[Mapmikey]

Note that VDOT would widen 15 north of Leesburg if Maryland would widen it south of 340.  Despite ROW being in place for this, Maryland declines to do so.  VA 9 OTOH, VDOT has no interest in trying to fix that, which is a heavy commuter corridor.

The beltway predates Tysons Corner development by 15 years.  They would need a robust CD lane system to provide direct ramps safely with 3 existing interchanges right there already.

Fairfax Cir was a true traffic circle until circa 1970 when the US 50 lanes were built through the center.  When this was built in the 1940s, it was essentially rural. The 1964 aerial shows a tunnel or bridge for US 50 might not have had space to do that.  For Blenheim, maybe enough space.  Today you might be able to make the circle be on a bridge a la Fairlington Circle on I-395.  But this would be very expensive I'm sure.

[1995hoo]

....  Today you might be able to make the circle be on a bridge a la Fairlington Circle on I-395.  But this would be very expensive I'm sure.

I'd be surprised if they would consider something like that nowadays because it seems like Fairfax City wants to make that area more pedestrian-friendly and less of a 1950s strip-mall type area. The shopping center where the huge movie theater used to be has been redeveloped into a combination of residential (condos, I think) and retail, anchored by a grocery store. But transforming that area away from the very low-density usage that prevails today would be a very long-term project. There is a lot of wasted space in the form of surface parking, though.

BTW, for those exploring that area, take note that there are speed cameras on Old Lee Highway. The southbound one is shortly before you get to St. Leo's and shortly after you pass the historic site (it's on the right side of this Street View image). The northbound one is across from Van Dyck Park (next to that church sign in this Street View image).

[Beltway]

Note that VDOT would widen 15 north of Leesburg if Maryland would widen it south of 340.  Despite ROW being in place for this, Maryland declines to do so.

Maryland would also need to widen or replace the Potomac River bridge, as it belongs to them. Unless and until they do that, any widening in Virginia would be diminished or nullified as to any economic effectiveness. Such a bridge project would be pretty expensive.

[Thing 342]

-The roads within Tyson's Corner Mall are terrible. You're awkwardly dumped onto VA 7 or fed into International Boulevard; the latter of which has people clamoring to turn at VA 7, continue straight onto Gallows Road, or trying to cut the corner to Chain Bridge Road. Why does the Beltway not have free ramps directly to and from Tyson's?

It's not very well signposted, but by far the easiest way to get in and out of Tysons 1 from 495 is to take the VA-123 exit and loop around via Tysons Blvd, Galleria Dr, and Westpark Dr to park in the north parking garage.

[Rothman]

-The roads within Tyson's Corner Mall are terrible. You're awkwardly dumped onto VA 7 or fed into International Boulevard; the latter of which has people clamoring to turn at VA 7, continue straight onto Gallows Road, or trying to cut the corner to Chain Bridge Road. Why does the Beltway not have free ramps directly to and from Tyson's?

It's not very well signposted, but by far the easiest way to get in and out of Tysons 1 from 495 is to take the VA-123 exit and loop around via Tysons Blvd, Galleria Dr, and Westpark Dr to park in the north parking garage.

Heh.  Everyone's got a trick to get out of there.  I don't believe I miss Tysons...much.

[noelbotevera]

Note that VDOT would widen 15 north of Leesburg if Maryland would widen it south of 340.  Despite ROW being in place for this, Maryland declines to do so.

Maryland would also need to widen or replace the Potomac River bridge, as it belongs to them. Unless and until they do that, any widening in Virginia would be diminished or nullified as to any economic effectiveness. Such a bridge project would be pretty expensive.

Yeah, isn't the Point of Rocks Bridge the deadlock here? Compared to the Harry W. Nice Bridge, replacing Point of Rocks should be marginally easier. Also, this isn't Montgomery County here; I feel like commuters in Frederick would love an alternative to I-270.

The beltway predates Tysons Corner development by 15 years.  They would need a robust CD lane system to provide direct ramps safely with 3 existing interchanges right there already.

Checking dates, the Beltway dates to 1964 whereas the mall dates to 1968. Were the VA 7 and VA 123 exits supposed to be for mall access? Either way, drivers still have to merge onto VA 7 before exiting for the mall. Exiting at Chain Bridge Road is even worse, given that drivers have to weave across Chain Bridge Road to turn left at Tyson's Boulevard.

It also seems like VDOT has had some success providing slip ramps where needed; for example, I-66 Exit 62 was lightly modified to build some ramps to the Vienna Metro station. Obviously, Tyson's Corner Center is far more complex than that, and it doesn't solve the issue of leaving the mall -- but at least entering would be made easier. Maybe braided ramps to/from Chain Bridge Road?

....  Today you might be able to make the circle be on a bridge a la Fairlington Circle on I-395.  But this would be very expensive I'm sure.

I'd be surprised if they would consider something like that nowadays because it seems like Fairfax City wants to make that area more pedestrian-friendly and less of a 1950s strip-mall type area. The shopping center where the huge movie theater used to be has been redeveloped into a combination of residential (condos, I think) and retail, anchored by a grocery store. But transforming that area away from the very low-density usage that prevails today would be a very long-term project. There is a lot of wasted space in the form of surface parking, though.

Yeah, there's a Giant and some condos in one of the lots (off of Lee Highway and Blake Lane). Still a lot of parking lots to redevelop. I don't think there's even a Metrobus stop in the area, so redeveloping Fairfax Circle seems like a tall order.

A proper solution is to somehow sink US 50 below the circle, probably with a lot of digging and a lot of supports. That's clearly not going to happen. A quick and dirty solution I thought up is to ban US 50 EB traffic from entering the circle, directing them to use Blake Lane and turn right at Lee Highway; US 50 EB to Blenheim would still be allowed. I dunno!

-The roads within Tyson's Corner Mall are terrible. You're awkwardly dumped onto VA 7 or fed into International Boulevard; the latter of which has people clamoring to turn at VA 7, continue straight onto Gallows Road, or trying to cut the corner to Chain Bridge Road. Why does the Beltway not have free ramps directly to and from Tyson's?

It's not very well signposted, but by far the easiest way to get in and out of Tysons 1 from 495 is to take the VA-123 exit and loop around via Tysons Blvd, Galleria Dr, and Westpark Dr to park in the north parking garage.

I think from the Tyson's side this is mostly advertised as "TO 123" or to Tyson's Galleria. I-495 signage is ambivalent but favors VA 7 (maybe because of the weave across VA 123 to turn left?). I have had more luck looping around the mall to exit there than at VA 7, so you do have a point.

[Beltway]

The beltway predates Tysons Corner development by 15 years.  They would need a robust CD lane system to provide direct ramps safely with 3 existing interchanges right there already.

Checking dates, the Beltway dates to 1964 whereas the mall dates to 1968. Were the VA 7 and VA 123 exits supposed to be for mall access? Either way, drivers still have to merge onto VA 7 before exiting for the mall. Exiting at Chain Bridge Road is even worse, given that drivers have to weave across Chain Bridge Road to turn left at Tyson's Boulevard.

Even after the mall opened, the surrounding area remained lightly developed; the mall had only three anchors and 100 stores in its early years.

Aerial imagery from the 1970s shows the mall surrounded by open land, with office development only beginning to appear in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The big boom into the office space of a major city CBD like Pittsburgh after 2000.

That is what he is referring to. Now it is ringed by freeways (I-495, VA-267) and wide arterials (VA-7, VA-123) and is served by four Silver Line Metrorail stations -- and it is still a very congested area.

[1995hoo]

Regarding Tysons, it also bears remembering that the interchange with Route 123 was reconfigured at some point between 1981 and 1988. Inner Loop traffic had only one ramp that split at the bottom. Traffic bound for the mall turned left at a traffic light (and thus didn't have to weave across to get to the turn lane). The cloverleaf ramp at the northeast corner of the interchange, next to where the Capital One building is now, came later when the light was turning into a bottleneck.

My recollection is that traffic coming from the direction of Fairfax or Annandale tended to use the Route 7 entrance to the mall back then because the overwhelming majority of the parking—all of which was in surface lots—was on the Route 7 side of the mall. It just made more sense to enter from that side. The Towers Crescent Drive bridge over Route 7 didn't exist then either. You entered at the light near Bloomingdale's. The property on the other side of Bloomingdale's where the office building with the Capital Grille is located now belonged to a church until the land just became so valuable that they couldn't resist selling to a developer. Also, back then Gallows Road followed what is now Old Gallows. You couldn't go straight across Route 7 from International Drive the way you can now because there was no road over there. All in all, it's way easier to get to the mall in terms of road access options than it was when I was a kid (except for the much greater volume of traffic).

[Beltway]

I see the RMA Powhite Parkway tolls are going AET on Feb. 28 per VMS signs on the highway.

Once Powhite goes fully AET, the new gantry just south of the river becomes the active toll collection point, and the old mainline plaza and local plazas become nothing more than pavement and obsolete hardware waiting for demolition and reconfiguration.

News release not on the RMA website yet. Also no details about toll booth removal demolitions and reconfigurations and schedule.

As often as I use the Forest Hill Avenue local booths it will be nice to see them gone. I have an EZPass but you still have to slow way down to go thru and you can get stuck behind someone paying cash but fumbling around to find the coins.

[WillWeaverRVA]

I see the RMA Powhite Parkway tolls are going AET on Feb. 28 per VMS signs on the highway.

Once Powhite goes fully AET, the new gantry just south of the river becomes the active toll collection point, and the old mainline plaza and local plazas become nothing more than pavement and obsolete hardware waiting for demolition and reconfiguration.

News release not on the RMA website yet. Also no details about toll booth removal demolitions and reconfigurations and schedule.

As often as I use the Forest Hill Avenue local booths it will be nice to see them gone. I have an EZPass but you still have to slow way down to go thru and you can get stuck behind someone paying cash but fumbling around to find the coins.

Yup, despite the open-road tolling lanes, traffic tends to bottleneck at that toll plaza during peak hours in both directions. I'll be happy to see that bottleneck gone.

[Beltway]

I see the RMA Powhite Parkway tolls are going AET on Feb. 28 per VMS signs on the highway.
Once Powhite goes fully AET, the new gantry just south of the river becomes the active toll collection point, and the old mainline plaza and local plazas become nothing more than pavement and obsolete hardware waiting for demolition and reconfiguration.
News release not on the RMA website yet. Also no details about toll booth removal demolitions and reconfigurations and schedule.
As often as I use the Forest Hill Avenue local booths it will be nice to see them gone. I have an EZPass but you still have to slow way down to go thru and you can get stuck behind someone paying cash but fumbling around to find the coins.

Yup, despite the open-road tolling lanes, traffic tends to bottleneck at that toll plaza during peak hours in both directions. I'll be happy to see that bottleneck gone.

Went live today -- the gantry is lit and the Forest Hill Avenue toll booth signals are covered in black plastic.

Have not run thru the main toll plaza yet -- will do that today.

There are also local toll plazas at Douglasdale Road, that is part of the Powhite Parkway ramps. Need to check that as well because those ramps are northerly and are not downstream of the mainline gantry.

[WillWeaverRVA]

I see the RMA Powhite Parkway tolls are going AET on Feb. 28 per VMS signs on the highway.
Once Powhite goes fully AET, the new gantry just south of the river becomes the active toll collection point, and the old mainline plaza and local plazas become nothing more than pavement and obsolete hardware waiting for demolition and reconfiguration.
News release not on the RMA website yet. Also no details about toll booth removal demolitions and reconfigurations and schedule.
As often as I use the Forest Hill Avenue local booths it will be nice to see them gone. I have an EZPass but you still have to slow way down to go thru and you can get stuck behind someone paying cash but fumbling around to find the coins.

Yup, despite the open-road tolling lanes, traffic tends to bottleneck at that toll plaza during peak hours in both directions. I'll be happy to see that bottleneck gone.

Went live today -- the gantry is lit and the Forest Hill Avenue toll booth signals are covered in black plastic.

Have not run thru the main toll plaza yet -- will do that today.

There are also local toll plazas at Douglasdale Road, that is part of the Powhite Parkway ramps. Need to check that as well because those ramps are northerly and are not downstream of the mainline gantry.

Is the RMTA removing those? I know the Douglasdale Road exit on southbound Powhite Parkway is fairly lightly used.

[Beltway]

There are also local toll plazas at Douglasdale Road, that is part of the Powhite Parkway ramps. Need to check that as well because those ramps are northerly and are not downstream of the mainline gantry.

Is the RMTA removing those? I know the Douglasdale Road exit on southbound Powhite Parkway is fairly lightly used.

I need to go and look. I know they already have small gantries with a transponder reader on them.

[Beltway]

There are also local toll plazas at Douglasdale Road, that is part of the Powhite Parkway ramps. Need to check that as well because those ramps are northerly and are not downstream of the mainline gantry.

Is the RMTA removing those? I know the Douglasdale Road exit on southbound Powhite Parkway is fairly lightly used.

I need to go and look. I know they already have small gantries with a transponder reader on them.

I checked it all out . . . there are 7 toll plazas on the highway and ramps. All of them have been deactivated and there are black plastic bags over the signal lights.

Douglasdale Road ramps north and south already got a gantry with a reader some time ago as they do not look new.

Checked:
All three Forest Hill Avenue ramp plazas.

Mainline plaza southbound -- that C-D roadway stays open as that handles the exit to Chippenham Parkway northbound.

Mainline plaza northbound -- that C-D roadway is still open but is not needed to access anything different from the express roadway.

I could not find any RMA news release regarding possible reconfiguring of the mainline at the main toll plazas.

The VMS signs on the highway still say Feb. 28 for go live date. I checked my EZPass transactions on their website and they all posted today for today.