Road work

Some highways are getting a tuneup in Virginia

Published March 27, 2015 by Paula C. Squires

Virginia has the third-largest state road system in the country. The following list is a sample of major road projects recently completed, under construction or under contract in Virginia.  A group of the state’s civil engineers recently gave Virginia an overall grade of C- when it comes to infrastructure, with roads receiving the lowest grades of D. The challenge is keeping pace with the maintenance of aging roads and bridges at a time when increasing transportation funding is hard to come by.

Interstate 95 Express Lanes
Total cost: Nearly $1 billion
Scope: The lanes stretch 29 miles, from the Edsall Road exit on I-395 to Garrisonville Road in Stafford County. Drivers can pay a variable toll that goes up as congestion increases, or they can use lanes for free in a carpool of three or more drivers. Work on the public-private project began in August 2012 and was completed by the end of last year. The average toll price during its first month of operation, which started on Dec. 29, 2014, was $4.01. The average weekday toll revenue for the lanes is nearly $103,000, and the average number of weekday trips is just over 37,000.
Completion: December 2014 

Interstate 66, Prince William County
Total cost:  $73 million
Scope: The state began work last spring on widening I-66 from Route 29 at Gainesville to Route 15 at Haymarket. When complete, the project will give drivers three lanes and one HOV lane for 25 miles in each direction between U.S. 15 and the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495). 
Scheduled completion: August 2016

Interstate 64 widening, Goochland/Henrico Counties 
Total cost:  $33.2 million
Scope: The project will widen nearly five miles of I-64 from four to six lanes. Eastbound: the project runs from Route 623 (Ashland Road) in Goochland to Route 271 (Pouncey Tract Road) in Henrico.  Westbound: From Route 271 to Route 622 (Rockville Road) in Goochland. The project will require various lane closures and some interchange upgrades.  The design-build contract is with Corman Construction Inc.
Scheduled completion: November 2015 

U.S. 29 corridor, Albemarle County
Design-build contract: $116.7 million  
Scope: Lane/Corman Joint Venture of Chantilly was awarded contract for work that will improve safety and increase capacity on and near U.S. 29 in Albemarle County north of Charlottesville. The projects will build a grade-separated intersection at U.S. 29 and Rio Road, widen U.S. 29 between Polo Grounds Road and Towncenter Drive and extend Berkmar Drive from Hilton Heights Road to Towncenter Drive.
Scheduled completion: October 2017

Widen Interstate 64, Newport News
Design-build contract: $84.8 million
Scope: Shirley Contracting Co. LLC of Lorton will widen 5.6 miles of Interstate 64 in Newport News, from about a half mile east of Route 238 (Yorktown Road) to about 1.5 miles west of Route 143 (Jefferson Avenue). The project will add a lane in each direction, widening the interstate from four to six lanes. The expansion will occur in the roadway’s median.
Scheduled completion: December 2017.