Skip to main content

Work to begin on North Virginia highway improvements to ease congestion

Work will begin this summer on the first major improvements to US Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway, Virginia, in 15 years. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) project is part of a comprehensive initiative to transform the I-66 corridor, giving commuters and other travellers a variety of fast and reliable choices for getting to and from work. Toll revenues will fund multimodal improvements, giving commuters expanded options for travel. To jumpstart the process, the Commonwealth Transp
August 2, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
RSSWork will begin this summer on the first major improvements to US Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway, Virginia, in 15 years. The 1747 Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) project is part of a comprehensive initiative to transform the I-66 corridor, giving commuters and other travellers a variety of fast and reliable choices for getting to and from work.

Toll revenues will fund multimodal improvements, giving commuters expanded options for travel. To jumpstart the process, the Commonwealth Transportation Board recently approved a nearly US$10 million program to fund a series of multimodal projects identified by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.

Contracts totalling US$60 million were awarded to Fort Myer Construction for tolling infrastructure construction and to 139 TransCore for tolling equipment installation. The project includes eight overhead electronic toll collection gantries on I-66 and approximately 125 signs along I-66 and local roads approaching the highway. The work will require periodic lane closures on local roads approaching I-66 interchanges, ramp closures and night-time lane closures along I-66 itself. Brief, occasional total closures of I-66 will occur during overnight construction to install the overhead gantries. Construction will conclude next year.

In addition to these improvements, a four-mile segment of eastbound I-66 from the Dulles Connector Road to Fairfax Drive will be widened to provide further congestion relief.

The initial project includes the installation of tolling equipment along the Capital Beltway to the Lee Highway exit and signage on local streets approaching the highway. The new I-66 inside the Beltway will be the country’s first roadway with dynamic tolling on all lanes during peak period traffic, keeping traffic moving at highway speeds by adjusting toll prices based on traffic volume.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Columbia goes intermodal to support sustainability
    April 10, 2014
    David Crawford on the ups and downs of a Latin metropolis. Medellín, Colombia’s second city and a recognised leader in sustainable transport thinking, is rapidly extending its substantial existing investment in modern mobility. It is deploying both an enhanced integrated traffic management array and the country’s first intermodal public transportation management system. The supplier of both, under separate €9 million (US$12.3 million) contracts, is Spanish engineering company Indra, a major exporter
  • Anywhere card delivers prepaid contactless ticketing
    January 25, 2012
    David Crawford investigates a far reaching initiative in integrated travel. The Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), an operator of high speed commuter rail in the north eastern US, is not one of the world's best known transit providers. Its 13 stations along a single east-west route (three of them interchanges with other regional commuter lines) handle 40,000 passengers a day, travelling to and from Philadelphia, the US' fifth most populous city.
  • German cities order Bombardier Transportation light rail vehicles
    March 20, 2015
    Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation has signed contracts with both the Düsseldorf Rheinbahn and Cologne transport authorities (KVB) for the delivery of 62 Flexity light rail vehicles in total. The contract with KVB is for 20 vehicles and is valued at approximately US$68 million. Rheinbahn’s contract for 42 vehicles, with an option for 16 additional vehicles, is valued at approximately US$135 million.
  • EV charging will require increased investment in cyber security systems
    April 18, 2012
    The technology architecture associated with electric vehicle (EV) charging is continuing to evolve as utilities and other key players in the industry ecosystem identify business requirements and risks associated with adding significant new demands on the electrical grid. One of the most pressing challenges is related to securing financial transactions and end-to-end communications throughout the EV charging infrastructure, and a recent report from Pike Research indicates that these areas will be the focus o