The high-occupancy toll lanes on the Capital Beltway in Virginia are three-quarters done, but the transportation project is one of the biggest in the nation. There’s a lot more work and a lot more change to come. That includes a significant change in the exit strategy at one interchange.
Managers say the overall project is on schedule to wrap up at the end of next year. Here’s a review of what’s happened this year and what’s ahead.
(Robert Thomson/THE WASHINGTON POST) - Managers say the Beltway-Dulles Toll Road intersection is the most challenging in Northern Virginia’s high-occupancy toll lane project.
So far
The project, along 14 miles between Springfield and the Dulles Toll Road, will widen the Beltway by four lanes and convert the inner lanes to HOT lanes, widen all the Beltway bridges and rebuild the interchanges — but not necessarily in that order. Some parts are more difficult than others. The interchanges at Interstate 66 and at the toll road are particularly complex and will be among the last segments finished.
Some elements are getting done just in time to clear the way for adjacent work zones. In many cases, the plan called for rebuilding bridges one span at a time. At least one bridge span has been completed at every interchange. Second spans are underway or open.
In August, second spans opened at Braddock Road, Little River Turnpike, Gallows Road and Lewinsville Road. New bridges at Idylwood Road and the W&OD Trail also have been completed. At the I-66 interchange, the new I-66 eastbound span was completed.
Along some sections of the Beltway, two inside lanes were closed off this summer for conversion to HOT lanes. In those cases, two new lanes opened on the outer edge.
More than 80 percent of the new sound walls have been installed.
What’s ahead
Changes scheduled for the near future include completion of the new westbound span for Lee Highway late this year. Flyover ramps and other connections to link the interchanges to the HOT lanes are under construction at various locations, including the I-66 and Dulles Toll Road interchanges.
More segments of the new outer lanes will be opening. More sections of the inner lanes will become work zones to create the HOT lanes and install the toll-monitoring equipment. Drivers on the north side of Tysons Corner see the new bridge that will link Jones Branch Road with the Beltway. A little farther south, near Route 123, the Westpark Bridge has been widened and the new connecting bridge to the Beltway is well underway.
To the managers, each of these steps fits into a sequence designed to get the overall project done as quickly as possible.
To drivers just paying attention to whatever is in front of them, the road ahead can seem like a series of unfortunate events. The through lanes seem to change course continually. If drivers are not on the freshly paved segments, the pavement can be pretty rough and the lane markings hard to follow.
Many drivers ignore the solid white lines meant to keep them in their lanes as they bend along the trickiest parts of the through lanes. At the interchanges, entrances and exits have moved around, and sometimes it’s difficult to follow the routes defined by the orange cones.
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