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

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Cintra, Meridiam-led consortium preferred proposer for Virginia’s toll project
    November 7, 2016
    The Commonwealth of Virginia, US, has named I-66 Express Mobility Partners as the preferred proposer for the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway project. The Cintra and Meridiam-led consortium will design, build, finance, maintain and operate the project, designed to relieve congestion, improve safety and provide more predictable travel times for Northern Virginia and the Washington, DC metro region.
    Read More
  • Cestel showcases non-invasive WIM solution for bridges
    March 21, 2018
    Cestel says its MkIII SiWIM technology turns any bridge into a fully automatic weigh-in-motion system without disturbing the road surface. Sensors are fixed to the underside of the bridge deck beneath up to four lanes of traffic and the system is calibrated with vehicles of known weight passing individually, in opposite directions and in various combinations depending on the road layout. Having been calibrated, an algorithm then interprets the information to determine the number, weights, speed and
    Read More
  • Cisco’s low-cost fibre optic solution for traffic monitoring
    March 21, 2018
    Cisco’s display focuses on a novel way of detecting traffic speeds, congestion and incidents without the use of loops. The company is using a fibre optic cable positioned alongside the road and down which it shines a light. Vibration created by passing vehicles create vibration which disrupts the passage of the light. Cisco has developed algorithms that can translate these disruptions to determine what type of vehicle is passing, in which direction, the lane it is using and the speed it is travelling. The
    Read More
  • Init unveils software development centre in Ireland
    December 21, 2018
    Init has opened a development centre in Ireland to develop software for ticketing systems and field devices. Currently, eight employees are working at the facility located in the town of Maynooth, Kildare. Future plans include the creation of 20 additional jobs. Matthias Kühn, director of Init Ireland, says: “This also is an opportunity to improve the service for our existing customers in Ireland.” Init has completed projects in Ireland which include the delivery of an integrated ITS solution to help D
    Read More

Highlighted Content