On the Road

By Kelly Hannon

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Road Closure Round-Up

Aug. 31, 2009 9:45 am

Lots of road work happening this week in the Fredericksburg area, and slightly to our north on Interstate 95. Here are a few projects to be aware of as you drive around:

*Night paving is still going on between Exit 126/Spotsylvania and Exit 118/Thornburg on Interstate 95 south. Two lanes will be closed tonight through Thursday night during the hours of 9 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. Use U.S. 1 south as an alternate route by exiting in the Massaponax area and jumping back on at Thornburg.

*Keep your speed at 25 mph as you approach a 24-hour work zone at the Route 3/U.S. 1 interchange in the City of Fredericksburg. Workers are repairing the bridge on U.S. 1 that crosses Route 3, and the city has decided to leave the U.S. 1 work zone in place -- with the enforced 25 mph speed limit -- at all times for the next five weeks. Over the weekend most drivers flew past me when they saw no workers were present on the bridge. You can rail against this decision all you want, or call your city councilperson, but it won't be a strong defense when you get a speeding ticket, which can be higher because you were speeding in a work zone. Readers have asked why they have to slow down when workers aren't present in past "Getting There" columns. Officials who do construction work have said the lower speeds are needed with or without workers because traffic patterns are new and unfamiliar, equipment may be left in the work zone, and pavement may be rough.

*Are you driving north on I-95 late this week in the vicinity of Woodbridge or Lorton? Two lanes of I–95 northbound will be closed tonight and tomorrow night from 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. between the U.S. 1 on-ramp at Exit 161 and Exit 163 at Lorton. On Wednesday and Thursday nights, two lanes of I–95 southbound will be closed from 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. from  the Pohick Creek bridge to Exit 161 at U.S. 1.

*Finally, expect lane closures and possible delays on the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge on U.S. 301 today through Thursday. One lane of the bridge will close at 9 a.m. today and stay closed through 3 p.m. Traffic will alternate crossing the bridge in the remaining lane. This work-zone pattern will repeat every day this week through Thursday. Workers are installing guardrail, pouring concrete and striping pavement lines, all part of improvements to the toll plaza area.

*Looking far into the future, drivers may want to prepare for a total shutdown of Interstate 95 - north AND south - near Woodbridge and Lorton scheduled for the evenings of Monday, Sept. 21 and Tuesday, Sept. 22. Don't worry, I'll keep reminding you as the date gets closer. The Virginia Department of Transportation needs to lift new, larger sign display structures over the travel lanes. A larger structure is needed because VDOT's widening I-95 from three to four lanes in that area.

The last time a closure this massive was scheduled for I-95 was when steel beams were lifted over travel lanes for the Springfield Interchange project. Still, VDOT is projecting drivers will only be delayed 45 minutes by the closure, which will be intermittent for 30-minute stretches from midnight to 2 a.m. those evenings.

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Kelly Hannon is the transportation reporter for The Free Lance-Star.

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Kelly Hannon writes about traffic and transportation in the Fredericksburg area.