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Falmouth flyover plan finally prepares for takeoff

Falmouth flyover plan prepares for takeoff

BY HUGH MUIR

Date published: 9/10/2008

BY HUGH MUIR

If all goes according to schedule, the long-awaited Falmouth overpass that will end decades of congestion at the intersection of U.S. 1, U.S. 17 and Butler Road will open in 2017.

Virginia Department of Transportation officials have drawn up a basic design and timetable for the four-lane elevated span, which will have side lanes providing access to and from U.S. 1 below.

Late next spring, VDOT plans to hold a public information meeting to seek community input on the final design of the span and its impact on historic Falmouth.

VDOT will seek final state and federal approval of the project at a public hearing late next year.

"We want to minimize the intrusion of this bridge on the community," said Harry Lee, VDOT engineering manager. "With context-sensitive design, we want to make it blend in with the community. We want it virtually to disappear."

A half dozen public meetings have been held on the project. The diamond interchange design now the focus of VDOT's planning is one of three or four alternatives that have cropped up over the years. Cost and engineering challenges winnowed the candidates to the present one.

Under the proposed design, the bridge over U.S. 1 would carry four lanes and span approximately 120 feet. The rebuilt 500-foot approach lanes on U.S. 17 and Butler Road would divide traffic going nonstop over the bridge from that descending to U.S. 1. At that level, left and right turns to and from U.S. 1 would be controlled by traffic signals.

Over the decades, inflation has increased the cost of the project from $2 million to $20 million. The construction price index went up 18 percent last year alone.

VDOT has to have at least 80 percent of the $20 million cost in hand before the first shovel goes into the ground.

"And we have to pay for it completely the year we finish it," Lee said.

The money now appears to be lined up. So far, state and federal agencies have given or promised $2.8 million by fiscal 2011. That should cover the engineering, ground studies and other planning before construction.

Then major funding should start to appear. State and federal allocations jump to $1.3 million in 2012, to $7.9 million in 2013 and, finally, to $9.1 million in 2014.

"That's when we can start spending serious amounts of money," Lee said, for example buying rights of way and relocating utilities.

In August 2014, VDOT hopes to advertise for construction bids. Actual construction could begin when the winter ice goes out in 2015.

Hugh Muir: 540/735-1975
Email: hmuir@freelancestar.com

To get an idea of how high the Falmouth bridge will be above U.S. 1, look at the present traffic lights and their supporting arms. By law, bridges and any traffic lights must be at least 16 feet, 6 inches above the roadway for truck clearance. Note that in the artist's drawing, the traffic signals are set into the bridge itself. As for the thickness of the bridge, the beam supporting the span is 6 feet thick, the roadway above it is 2 feet thick and any railing is 3 or 4 feet high. This is VDOT's proposed timeline for the construction of the Falmouth bridge spanning the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and U.S. 17/Butler Road: Late spring 2009: Public information meeting. November-December 2009: State/federal public hearing. First quarter of 2010: Adopt exact location and design of project. July 2011: Authorization of right-of-way/utilities funds. August 2014: Begin five-month period of soliciting and then awarding construction bids. Fiscal year 2014: Authorization of final funds for project. Spring 2015: Begin construction. Spring 2017: Finish construction.

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Date published: 9/10/2008