Tysons Corner, already notorious for nerve-wracking traffic congestion, is expected to creep deeper into gridlock next year as the state clears the way for Metro to Dulles and adds lanes to the Capital Beltway.
Moving utilities around Route 7, which begins in early January, is the first step in a convergence of construction projects that local officials worry will further bottleneck Fairfax County’s “downtown.” Dulles Rail and the Beltway High Occupancy Toll Lanes project are set to break ground next year and run on nearly identical schedules.
The utility relocation, which is necessary to build the new transit line, likely won’t slow traffic nearly as much as the construction of the rail itself, though the Virginia Department of Transportation does predict delays.
The initial gas-line move will shut the westbound lane of a Route 7 access road near Gosnell Road. Later relocation of phones, water, sewer, fiber-optic and electric lines will cross onto the main road. Altogether, the utility work will take two years, according to recent estimates.
“We’re going to minimize any impact on traffic,” said VDOT spokesman Mike Salmon, who added some of the work will be done at night.
Construction on the toll lanes project, which will put four new toll lanes along Interstate 495 with three access points in Tysons, is scheduled to start in the spring and end in 2013.
Construction for the first 11.6-mile phase of Dulles rail, which will run on an elevated track through Tysons, is scheduled to begin in the summer and finish in 2013.
While officials signed a final agreement for the toll lanes last week, Dulles Rail’s future remains uncertain. Whether the project moves forward depends on the Federal Transit Administration’s approval of $900 million in funding, which is contingent on the project meeting the agency’s threshold for cost and ridership.
The parallel construction in Tysons stems from the state’s rush to undertake transportation improvements all at once after years of failing to fund them, Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth said.
Worse, she said, upgrades to the Gallows Road-Lee Highway intersection could begin in 2010, adding a third project to the mix.
Bottleneck
Two enormous transportation projects are set to start in or around Tysons Corner next year.
Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project
(dependent on funding)
Begins: Summer 2008
Opens: 2013
Beltway High Occupancy Toll Lanes
Begins: Spring 2008
Opens: 2013
