By KELLY HANNON

Construction has started on the Spotsylvania Bypass, a 7.5-mile road that will steer traffic around county government and court buildings and provide a direct route to the Lake Anna area.

Work is under way only on the $13.5 million first section of the courthouse bypass, which will be built in two phases.

The new road will provide traffic relief at the T-intersection at Spotsylvania Courthouse, which handles about 20,000 vehicles a day. In 2029, the bypass is projected to carry 48,000 vehicles a day.

The first segment is a three-mile, four-lane road that will peel off Courthouse Road (State Route 208) near the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park and Plantation Forest subdivision. It will go west of the courthouse, crossing Brock Road. It will end 1.5 miles south of Robert E. Lee Drive.

The second phase will continue around Post Oak, cross the Ta River and reconnect with Route 208.

There is no start date for the second phase.

The first phase is expected to be finished in December 2008. General Excavation Inc. of Warrenton is doing the work.

Pull-off areas will be built along the bypass, where motorists can read historic markers about significant events that took place on surrounding land, such as the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield.

The bypass has been planned for years. The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved it in December 2000. Construction was supposed to start in 2002. The project was delayed because the Virginia Department of Transportation had to wait until it had enough money to pay for Phase 1 in a single fiscal year, said Harry Lee, VDOT preliminary engineering manager for the Fredericksburg District.

Inflation in 2002 and 2003 pushed back the start date, Lee said.

Because most of the route is off existing roads, motorists should not experience delays because of construction.

Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com