A major Tysons Corner exit ramp will close for more than a month beginning Sunday as part of the construction of high occupancy toll lanes on the Capital Beltway, transportation officials announced.
The Interstate 495 south exit ramp onto Chain Bridge Road north will close for 45 days, prompting detours onto the also congestion-heavy Interstate 66 for southbound commuters.
The shutdown is the latest manifestation of a major traffic shift underway in Tysons, the result of the simultaneous work on HOT lanes and first phase of the Dulles Metrorail projects, both of which are scheduled to be complete by 2013.
The change could prove a short-term frustration for motorists heading back into Virginia from jobs in Bethesda or other points in Maryland. Those commuters could easily miss the I-66 exit, which comes before Chain Bridge Road, and sits on the left-hand side of the highway.
“In the beginning, there’s a learning curve,” said Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Titunik. “There are probably going to be some folks who are going to miss [the exit].”
The $1.4 billion HOT lanes project will install two new lanes for 14 miles on the Beltway between Springfield and north of the Dulles Toll Road. The added lanes will be free to carpoolers, buses and motorcycles, but will cost vehicles carrying fewer than three occupants.
The Dulles Rail project, which will add four new stations in Tysons Corner, recently announced that it would begin a major traffic pattern shift on Route 7 in the path of the new track. The project this weekend closed off the median of the highway at the Marshalls Drive/Front Road intersection, a change that is also expected to cause confusion.
