Drivers, get ready for summer stop-and-go.
That’s the message from Washington-area transportation agencies as they roll out their construction crews for the intense road work possible only in the summer, when temperatures are high enough and rain rare enough to let them to put down lots of pavement.
“We have a lot of projects going on, especially down in your area, the Washington suburbs,” said Maryland State Highway Administration spokesman Charlie Gischlar. “You’ll start to see the construction cones going up.”
| Need info on road delays? Here are your options: |
| Maryland: @MDSHA, @MD511State |
| Virginia: @VaDOT, @I95VA, @511northernva |
| D.C.: @DDOTDC, @NYAve411 |
| Web |
| Maryland: md511.org, roads.maryland.gov |
| Virginia: 511virginia.org, virginiadot.org |
| D.C.: ddot.dc.gov, godcgo.com |
| Phone |
| Maryland or Virginia: call 511 |
| D.C.: call 311 |
| Major local road delays to look out for: |
| Maryland |
| MD 650/New Hampshire Avenue, bridge over Sligo Creek Parkway |
| Lane shifts, day and night. |
| MD-355 and MD-185 at Jones Bridge Road |
| Work and delays near the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. |
| MD-193/University Boulevard, bridge over the Beltway |
| Lane closures as crews repair the bridge deck. |
| Beltway/I-495/I-95 |
| Nighttime lane closures between Glenarden Parkway to U.S. 50, and D’arcy Road to Arena Drive. |
| Virginia |
| I-95, from D.C. to Stafford County |
| Lane closures, day and night, and some full weekend closures. |
| Route 50 at 10th Street and Courthouse in Arlington |
| Detours, lane closures. |
| Fairfax County Parkway interchange with Fair Lakes Parkway |
| Nightly lane closures through July for paving. |
| Route 50 at the Fairfax/Loudoun county line |
| Lane closures midday and some overnight. |
| Route 7 in Reston/Herndon area |
| Lane closures as crews widen the road. |
| D.C. |
| U.S. 50/New York Avenue bridge |
| Lane closures, some full bridge closures as crews rehabilitate bridge. |
| First Street NE, Union Station to M Street NE |
| Street will be one-way, southbound for a year. |
| M Street NW, Thomas Circle to Georgetown |
| Street work as crews install a bike lane. |
| 11th Street Bridge area |
| Ongoing delays as crews continue to work on new bridges. |
Travelers trying to get out of town should watch out for road work on major highways in the area, especially Interstate 95 in Virginia, from D.C. to Stafford County. Officials there are warning that work on the new tolled express lanes will be in full force after Memorial Day, with crews closing lanes midday and overnight, as well as closing the HOV lanes for entire weekends or overnight. Construction could shut down entire sections of the highway some nights as workers lift steel girders above the road.
“To keep the more than $1.5 billion worth of transportation improvement projects underway along I-395/95 in Northern Virginia on schedule, VDOT and its contractors and partners will be intensifying construction efforts this summer,” said John Lynch, a Virginia Department of Transportation planner. “We are working hard to minimize impacts to the traveling public. However, lane closures on 95 are unavoidable during certain times.”
Drivers also can expect to see overnight delays on the Maryland section of I-95 north of the Beltway as crews build a new interchange for Contee Road in Laurel, as well as resurface pavement in two places in the Prince George’s County section of the Beltway/I-95, from Glenarden Parkway to U.S. 50 and from D’Arcy Road to Arena Drive.
“The Beltway never sleeps down there,” Gischlar said.
Travelers trying to take U.S. 50 out to the Eastern Shore for weekend beach trips also should keep construction in mind, officials said. In D.C., crews will continue to work on restoring the New York Avenue bridge that carries U.S. 50, shutting it down entirely some weekends and narrowing it to one lane on others. And Maryland crews will be closing lanes and ramps on U.S. 50 overnight at U.S. 301
as they put new asphalt down.
The bottom line, transportation experts say, is expect traffic, and adjust plans accordingly.
“It’s going to be delayed driving this summer,” said AAA Mid-Atlantic’s John Townsend. “No part of the Washington metro area is going to be untouched by road crews, so you have to plan ahead.”
