A cluster of massive construction projects on the major Northern Virginia highways is about to heat up traffic and tempers on Washington-area roads.
Officials from the Virginia Department of Transportation have announced five “megaprojects” sure to stop traffic and cause headaches for local drivers during the coming months.
“This year is far more complex and far more extreme,” said VDOT Regional Director Ronaldo Nicholson.
“All of our interstates are impacted by some level of construction, day and night,” he said.
The planned projects include the installation of high occupancy toll lanes along Interstate 495, the addition of a fourth lane in both directions on sections of Interstate 95, and more construction on the first phase of the Dulles Metrorail line.
Two of those projects — the I-495 HOT lanes installation and construction on the Dulles Metro line — will overlap near Tysons Corner and Route 123. Nicholson warned the resulting rush-hour delays could be catastrophic.
“That’s what we call ground zero — the intersection of the [Interstate] 495 HOT lanes and the Dulles rail guide way,” Nicholson said. “We’ve got a three-level, $4 billion construction project going on in that area, and that [will lead] to the most complex and significant traffic impacts.”
Crews already have started working along an 11.5-mile stretch of the new Dulles Metro line, which will slow traffic from Falls Church to Reston. Crews also have begun work on the new Wiehle Avenue Metrorail station, and traffic could be slowed on the Dulles Toll Road.
Commuters can expect “day- and night-time lane closures, overnight shutdown of all lanes for periods of time and long-term detours,” according to a VDOT statement issued Thursday.
Road crews also need to finish the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, where northbound Interstate 495 drivers will face detours.
Nicholson urged drivers to seek out alternative means of transportation during morning and evening rush hours, or to consider not commuting to work at all.
“If you can work from home, do so,” Nicholson said.
