What was once the largest bungle of a transportation project has become a safer and faster drive for the 430,000 motorists who use it every day.
The $676 million Springfield Interchange project is about 80 percent complete with two major ramps completed, connecting Interstate 95 North to the Beltway’s Inner and Outer Loops.
“If you equate the interchange to a seven-course meal … we’re at the meat-and-potatoes stage,” said John DePasquale, a Virginia Department of Transportation construction engineer.
The dessert, he said, would be the “untangling of the weave and merge” actions that comefrom the 83,000 daily drivers headed south from the Beltway’s Inner and Outer Loops and Interstate 395 South.
Instead of the accident-inducing lane changes drivers currently make at break-neck speeds to get onto Interstate 95 South — the heart of the “Mixing Bowl” — each ramp would have a dedicated lane.
The new ramps would create a smooth transition and greatly improving the safety, DePasquale said.
A new ramp bringing traffic from the Outer Loop to I-395 North will be completed in 2007, as well as some local connections from Franconia.
Other steps VDOT officials took to make a safer roadway include adding better lighting, more signs, additional cameras to monitor traffic and 12-foot shoulders to accommodate broken down vehicles.
The interchange was built to handle 550,000 vehicles a day, which is expected to occur around 2015, according to VDOT engineers.
“There are a lot of things in play as to why we may not reach 550,000,” said Steve Titunik, a VDOT spokesman, who added “a recipe of transportation assets” could be created that would include more public transportation and innovative ideas and less reliance on the road system.
