There are currently four projects being worked on by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) that will help the flow of traffic and improve congestion in the western end of Prince William.
The projects – the Linton Hall Road Interchange, I-66 Widening project, Interstate 66/Route 15 Interchange, and Transform 66 project were all discussed at a recent town hall meeting in Haymarket.
The Linton Hall Road Interchange project began back in 2011 and is projected to conclude this summer. It’s budgeted for $230 million, according to the VDOT website. It includes four new bridges, a traffic signal removal, a concrete sidewalk, shared-use path, ten retaining walls, and new roadway lighting.
The Interstate 66/Route 15 Interchange project’s design process began back in 2014 and is set to cost $59 million, according to the VDOT website. Construction on the project began this spring and will be completed in 2017. The interchange improvements include ramp improvements, two longer bridges with crossover intersections, wider intersections at Heathcote Boulevard and Route 55, as well as a shared use path, according to the VDOT website.
For the I-66 Widening Project, there is work being done from Route 15 in Haymarket to Route 29 in Gainesville, which began in 2014. The project, according to the VDOT website, is budgeted at $73.5 million and will add one HOV lane and one regular in each direction of the road on that stretch.
The Transform 66 project will add two Express Lanes to the I-66 corridor, with a tolling system similar to the 495 and 95 Expressway, according to Director of Megaprojects, Susan Shaw.
“[This project] is prompted by congestion and the poor quality of the drive on I-66. It’s been under study for so many years. There was a major investment study done…and then this project is following our ‘Tier 1’ environmental study,” said Shaw.
The improvement projects come after a study completed in 2013 that looked at how to handle congestion. Over 47 different combinations of congestion solutions were proposed, according to Shaw.
Additionally, VDOT is looking at doing spot improvements on I-66, including auxiliary lanes, which could be possible in the future, Shaw said.
All four of these projects would be beneficial for the western end of the county, including Haymarket. The town has been working with VDOT on the projects, and it will open up more development and tourism to the area, according to Chris Morris, a Haymarket Town Council member.
“The Town of Haymarket is on a path of refocusing our attention on making our town more attractive to visitors and more ‘homey’ to our residents. Not just this present council but previous councils have set this in motion. We have had a few setbacks with poor decisions, but the good decisions definitely outweigh the bad publicity. The communities directly surrounding our town is also seeing growth and this, I believe, is one of the driving force behind VDOT’s improvement projects,” said Morris.
