F E B R U A R Y  1 5,  2 0 1 2 

Super NoVa transit meetings continue this week

Join the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), along with key partners, to help develop the Super NoVa Transit/Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Vision Plan. Click here for a study area map. 

Drop-in to any one of meetings listed below. Formal presentations will be offered at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. 

Feb. 15, 2012 - 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Warrenton Community Center
430 E. Shirley Avenue
Warrenton, VA 20186
Click here for directions

Feb. 16, 2012 - 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Spotswood Baptist Church
4009 Lafayette Blvd.
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
Click here for directions

If you cannot make a meeting, please review materials online and click here to complete a brief survey.

For special assistance or information, call 1-804-786-4440 or TDD 711 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. DRPT ensures nondiscrimination in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

250-ton steel girder hoisted over 495 Express Lanes

Traffic on the Capital Beltway’s Inner Loop Friday night February 3 was diverted onto Route 7, Leesburg Pike in Tysons Corner, as a 250-ton steel girder was lifted over the highway.

The girder was hoisted atop two pylons that will later be used to construct a ramp that will carry motorists on and off the 495 Express Lanes and Route 7.

The work is part of the 495 Express Lanes Project, which, when it opens later this year, will allow motorists that travel I-495 between Springfield and the Dulles Toll Road the option to carpool with 3 or more people for free or pay a toll to avoid traffic congestion.

Virginia State and Fairfax County Police closed the portion of the Inner Loop at Route 7 where the girder was being lifted at about 11 p.m.

It took construction crews about an hour to prepare for the lift, as materials and two 500-ton large cranes were moved into place. The box girder was approximately 130 feet long, 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide, the largest girder set to date on the project.

Once it began, the lift went smoothly and now motorists in the Tysons Corner area can now see the girder mounted over the Beltway.

All lanes of the Inner Loop were reopened to traffic early Saturday morning.

Left turns allowed again in Fair Lakes

Beginning today, motorists will once again be able to make left turns from Fair Lakes Parkway onto Fairfax County Parkway.  For the past six months, motorists have been detoured onto Fair lakes Circle while crews build an interchange.

Motorists can expect delays on Fair Lakes Parkway between 9 p.m. Feb. 15 and 5 a.m. Feb. 16 while crews implement this new traffic pattern.

The entire project is scheduled for completion in 2013. The $69.5 million interchange at Fairfax County Parkway and Fair Lakes Parkway will improve pedestrian and cyclist access, widen more than three miles of the Fairfax County Parkway, and improve traffic flow by separating local and Parkway traffic through this busy area. Visit the project webpage for more details.
 

Woodbridge VRE Kiss & Ride open

After much anticipation, Virginia Railway Express (VRE)    made it easier for area commuters by opening a new Kiss & Ride facility at the Woodbridge VRE station in late January.

The project provides separated car and bus access from the northbound lanes of Route 1, as well as improved pedestrian access. Construction consisted of surface grading and pavement, adding a turning lane on northbound Route 1, concrete curbing, gutters, sidewalks, storm water drainage, crosswalks, a bus shelter, lighting, and signage all within a limited area and a very busy thoroughfare.

495 Express Lanes brings $450 million in contracts 

Governor Bob McDonnell announced that the 495 Express Lanes project on the Capital Beltway in northern Virginia has awarded nearly $450 million in contracts to small and disadvantaged businesses.

“The 495 Express Lanes commitment to small, women, and minority-owned businesses is the largest in Virginia’s history for a single transportation project,” McDonnell said. “In these challenging economic times, it is more important than ever to support businesses in our local communities. The Virginia Department of Transportation and Transurban-Fluor partnership to foster small-business participation in the 495 Express Lanes construction can be a model for other governments embarking on large, multiyear infrastructure improvements.”

Since 2007, VDOT, Transurban-Fluor and design-builder Fluor-Lane have focused on increasing small and disadvantaged business participation in the construction of the 495 Express Lanes, a five-year, $1.3 billion initiative to improve traffic flow along the Capital Beltway. Four new lanes, set to be completed in late 2012, will span a 14-mile stretch of the Beltway.

Click here to read more.
 

Did you know?

You already know Virginia is a big place that spans rural and metropolitan areas alike. The commonwealth borders five states and the District of Columbia, but did you know how many miles make up each border? Find out below:

State               Length (miles)
West Virginia            381.2 
North Carolina           327.7 
Maryland                   253.7 
Kentucky                  119.0 
Tennessee                110.7 
District of Columbia    1.9   

Questions? Comments? Call 1-877-9595-222 or email info@vamegaprojects.com

View maps, information on congestion relief projects and a whole lot more! VaMegaprojects.com

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