Virginia and Transurban spend $1bn on infrastructure to improve congestion

The US state of Virginia and road operator Transurban are investing more than $1 billion in four projects to help tackle congestion on the I-495 and I-95. The partners want to establish a 90-mile network of connected Express Lanes throughout Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg by 2022. Virginia Department of Transportation (VDoT) and Transurban have signed an agreement for the first project, Capital Beltway Express Lanes Northern Extension. The new 2.5-mile area will offer four general purpose lanes and
January 31, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

The US state of Virginia and road operator 600 Transurban are investing more than $1 billion in four projects to help tackle congestion on the I-495 and I-95.

The partners want to establish a 90-mile network of connected 8217 Express Lanes throughout Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg by 2022.

1747 Virginia Department of Transportation (VDoT) and Transurban have signed an agreement for the first project, Capital Beltway Express Lanes Northern Extension. The new 2.5-mile area will offer four general purpose lanes and two new 8217 Express Lanes in each direction from the current terminus near the Dulles Access Road to the American Legion Bridge. The network will be extended to the Maryland border to address bottlenecks in the region and reduce cut-through traffic in local McLean neighbourhoods.

Additionally, a reversible ramp connecting the existing I-95 Express Lanes at Optiz Boulevard is expected to provide better access to Potomac Mills and Sentara Virginia Medical Centre. It will also allow drivers to exit directly onto Optiz Boulevard.

A new southbound auxiliary lane is to be built on I-95 in Woodbridge to address the traffic bottleneck at the Occoquan Bridge. This lane will connect the southbound Route 123 ramp onto I-95 with the off-ramp at Westbound Prince Willian Parkway.

Scott Surovell, member of the Virginia Senate, says: “The Occoquan bottleneck is the worst traffic problem in Virginia and has been one of my top priorities since I was elected to represent Prince William County in 2015.”

The fourth project is a 10-mile extension of the 95 Express Lanes to Fredericksburg.

VDoT is also developing environmental studies to support the projects.

Virginia is also taking steps to bolster its commercial vehicle enforcement systems. Earlier this month, 69 International Road Dynamics won a $4.2 million %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external contract false http://www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/ird-to-maintain-commercial-vehicle-enforcement-systems-in-virginia/ false false%> to use weigh-in-motion technology to help maintain 11 mainline and ramp systems owned by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

UTC

Related Content

  • January 4, 2019
    Keolis launches free autonomous shuttle service at French University
    Keolis has launched a free electric autonomous shuttle service at the University of Lille in France which is operating on open public roads for one year. Two Navya shuttles are running on a 1.4km route in Villeneuve d'Ascq, northern France, which includes four dedicated stops from Monday to Friday. These vehicles will also provide connections to two the Cité Scientifique’ and 4 Cantons Stade Pierre Mauroy metro stations. This trial was realised through an agreement with the European Metropole of Lille.
    Read More
  • February 14, 2019
    Lyft Green Mode option allows riders to request electric and hybrid vehicles
    Lyft is launching a Green Mode feature within its app to provide riders in Seattle with the option to travel in an electric or hybrid vehicle. The move follows the company’s planned introduction of thousands of electric vehicles (EVs) onto its platform this year. Lyft says the deployment will allow its drivers to increase net earnings as it says the cost of travelling in an EV is half that of a petrol-powered car, therefore saving hundreds of dollars per month on fuel costs. Drivers can switch
    Read More
  • July 9, 2019
    Grab secures $300m to expand presence in South-east Asia
    Grab has received $300 million to further accelerate its expansion in South-east Asia. Justin Leverenz, senior portfolio manager at Invesco – the company which has put up the cash - says the investment will support Grab in its “bringing more everyday services, greater accessibility and convenience to users in South-east Asia”. Earlier this year, Grab began working with property developer Sinar Mas Land to deploy electric scooters in Indonesia and to help strengthen BSD (Bumi Serpong Damai) city’s posi
    Read More
  • November 22, 2018
    Lime launches free-floating car-share service in Seattle
    Bike-share and electric scooter company Lime has launched a ‘free-floating’ car-share service in Seattle and intends to make 1,500 vehicles available in early 2019. Bloomberg says the company has deployed 50 Lime-branded vehicles and intends to increase this number to 500 by the end of the year. Users can unlock a LimePod vehicle, a customised two-door Fiat 500, via the company’s app for $1 and are charged 40 cents per minute while driving. Toby Sun, Lime’s chief executive officer, says the company is a
    Read More

Highlighted Content